Moved by the fate of Belgium, a small and Catholic country, John Redmond had called on Irishmen to enlist "in defence of the highest principles of religion and morality and right". More Catholic Irish enlisted than Protestants.[2]

Until March 1916 the 16th Division was part of IV Corps, commanded by the staunch unionist, Lieutenant GeneralSir Henry Wilson. Wilson, who had called the division "Johnnie Redmond's pets", inspected them over the course of a few days over Christmas 1915, noting that they "appear to be inferior" and that "at least 50p.c. are quite useless, old whiskey-sodden militiamen". Hickie agreed that he had "a political Divn of riff raff Redmondites". Wilson thought the 47th Brigade had "old officers, old & useless men, very bad musketry, rotten boots, and altogether a very poor show". Wilson reported to the Army Commander, Lieutenant General Sir Charles Monro (6 January) that the division, despite having been training since September–October 1914, would not be fit to serve in an active part of the line for six weeks. Although–in the opinion of Wilson's biographer Keith Jeffery–political prejudice probably played a part in these views, Wilson also attributed much of the difference in quality between his divisions to training, especially of officers, in which he took a keen personal interest, opposing Haig's wish to delegate training from corps to division level.[2] Hickie was–in public–much more diplomatic and tactful and spoke of the pride which his new command gave him.[5]

Men of the 16th (Irish) Division (possibly of the 47th Brigade) in a lorry going back for a rest after taking Guillemont, 3 September 1916. They are passing by the "Minden Post" on the Fricourt-Maricourt road, west-south-west of Carnoy. Note some soldiers wearing captured German pickelhaubes and feldmutzes. Two soldiers clearly display cap badges of the Royal Irish Regiment.

At Loos, in January and February 1916, the division was introduced to trench warfare and suffered greatly in the Battle of Hulluch, 27–29 April, (during the Easter Rising in Ireland). Personnel raided German trenches all through May and June;[6] in late July they were moved to the Somme Valley where they were intensively engaged in the Battle of the Somme. Lieutenant General Hubert Gough, the British Fifth Army commander, had asked, at the end of 1915, for the division to be placed under his command, and had established the first corps school for the training of young officers.[7] The 16th Division played an important part in capturing the towns of Guillemont and Ginchy, although they suffered massive casualties, during these successful actions between 1 and 10 September casualties amounted to 224 officers and 4,090 men; despite these very heavy losses the division gained a reputation as first-class shock troops.[8] Out of a total of 10,845 men, it had lost 3,491 on the Loos sector between January and the end of May 1916, including heavy casualties from bombardment and a gas attack at Hullach in April. Bloodletting of this order was fatal to the division's character, for it had to be made good by drafts from England.[6]

In early 1917, the division took a major part in the Battle of Messines alongside the 36th (Ulster) Division, adding to both their recognition and reputation, their major actions ended in the summer of 1917 at the Battle of Passchendaele after, again, coming under the command of Gough and the Fifth Army. In July 1917, during the Third Battle of Ypres, although both divisions were completely exhausted after 13 days of moving weighty equipment under heavy shelling, Gough ordered the battalions to advance through deep mud towards well fortified German positions left untouched by totally inadequate artillery preparation.[9] By mid August, the 16th had suffered over 4,200 casualties, the 36th almost 3,600, or more than 50% of their numbers. Haig, now a field marshal, was very critical of Gough for "playing the Irish card".[10]

The 16th Division held an exposed position from early 1918 at Ronssoy where they suffered more heavy losses during the German Army's Spring Offensive in March and being practically wiped out in the retreat which followed Operation Michael.[11] Haig wrote in his diary (22 March 1918) that the division was "said not to be so full of fight as the others; in fact, certain Irish units did very badly and gave way immediately the enemy showed". In fact the division's casualties were the highest of any BEF division at this time, and records of the German 18th and 50th Reserve Divisions show that the Irish fought hard,[12] the corps commander, Lieutenant General Walter Congreve, wrote "the real truth is that their reserve brigade did not fight at all and their right brigade very indifferently". One battalion was greeted at the rear with cries of "There go the Sinn Feiners!" A report by Field Marshal Sir Henry Wilson, now the Chief of the Imperial General Staff (CIGS), concluded that there was no evidence that the men had not fought well, but pointed out that only two-thirds of the men were of Irish birth. The matter affected the debate over the introduction of conscription of Ireland.[13]

The remnants of the division were later transferred to XIX Corps of the Third Army,[14] the 16th helped to finally halt the German attack prior to the Battle of Hamel. The decision was then made to break up the division, the three surviving Service battalions were posted to other formations.[11]

On 14 June the division returned to England for "reconstitution", the Conscription Crisis of 1918 in Ireland meant that fewer Irish recruits could be raised so that the 16th Division which returned to France on 27 July contained five English battalions, two Scottish battalions and one Welsh battalion. The only original battalion left was the 5th Royal Irish Fusiliers.

The dispersion of the Irish battalions throughout the BEF in 1918, despite its practical considerations, appears to suggest that the Irish units were increasingly distrusted by the military authorities.[15]

The 47th Brigade was known as the "Nationalist Brigade" as the majority were men from Redmond's Irish Volunteers, the four original battalions were;- 6th Royal Irish Regiment, 6th Connaught Rangers, 7th Leinster Regiment and 8th Royal Munster Fusiliers. They, with the 20th (Light) Division, captured Guillemont on the Battle of the Somme on 3 September 1916.[16] Six days later, with the rest of the 6th Division, captured Ginchy.

The 7th and 8th Battalions of the Royal Irish Fusiliers combined to form the 7th/8th Battalion in October 1916 which was subsequently disbanded in February 1918, the 7th and 8th Battalions of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers combined to form the 7th/8th Battalion in August 1917 which was also subsequently disbanded in February 1918.

1.
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
–
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was established as a sovereign state on 1 January 1801 by the Acts of Union 1800, which merged the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland. The growing desire for an Irish Republic led to the Irish War of Independence, Northern Ireland remained part of the United Kingdom, and the state was consequently renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Britain financed the European coalition that defeated France in 1815 in the Napoleonic Wars, the British Empire thereby became the foremost world power for the next century. The Crimean War with Russia and the Boer wars were relatively small operations in a largely peaceful century, rapid industrialisation that began in the decades prior to the states formation continued up until the mid-19th century. A devastating famine, exacerbated by government inaction in the century, led to demographic collapse in much of Ireland. It was an era of economic modernization and growth of industry, trade and finance. Outward migration was heavy to the colonies and to the United States. Britain also built up a large British Empire in Africa and Asia, India, by far the most important possession, saw a short-lived revolt in 1857. In foreign policy Britain favoured free trade, which enabled its financiers and merchants to operate successfully in many otherwise independent countries, as in South America. Britain formed no permanent military alliances until the early 20th century, when it began to cooperate with Japan, France and Russia, and moved closer to the United States. A brief period of limited independence for Ireland came to an end following the Irish Rebellion of 1798, the British governments fear of an independent Ireland siding against them with the French resulted in the decision to unite the two countries. This was brought about by legislation in the parliaments of both kingdoms and came into effect on 1 January 1801, however, King George III was bitterly opposed to any such Emancipation and succeeded in defeating his governments attempts to introduce it. When the Treaty of Amiens ended the war, Britain agreed to return most of the territories it had seized, in May 1803, war was declared again. In 1806, Napoleon issued the series of Berlin Decrees, which brought into effect the Continental System and this policy aimed to eliminate the threat from the British by closing French-controlled territory to foreign trade. Frances population and agricultural capacity far outstripped that of the British Isles, Napoleon expected that cutting Britain off from the European mainland would end its economic hegemony. The Spanish uprising in 1808 at last permitted Britain to gain a foothold on the Continent, after Napoleons surrender and exile to the island of Elba, peace appeared to have returned. The Allies united and the armies of Wellington and Blucher defeated Napoleon once, simultaneous with the Napoleonic Wars, trade disputes, arming hostile Indians and British impressment of American sailors led to the War of 1812 with the United States. The war was little noticed in Britain, which could devote few resources to the conflict until the fall of Napoleon in 1814, American frigates inflicted a series of defeats on the Royal Navy, which was short on manpower due to the conflict in Europe

2.
British Army
–
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom. As of 2017 the British Army comprises just over 80,000 trained Regular, or full-time, personnel and just over 26,500 trained Reserve, or part-time personnel. Therefore, the UK Parliament approves the continued existence of the Army by passing an Armed Forces Act at least once every five years, day to day the Army comes under administration of the Ministry of Defence and is commanded by the Chief of the General Staff. Repeatedly emerging victorious from these decisive wars allowed Britain to influence world events with its policies and establish itself as one of the leading military. In 1660 the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were restored under Charles II, Charles favoured the foundation of a new army under royal control and began work towards its establishment by August 1660. The Royal Scots Army and the Irish Army were financed by the Parliament of Scotland, the order of seniority of the most senior line regiments in the British Army is based on the order of seniority in the English army. At that time there was only one English regiment of dragoons, after William and Marys accession to the throne, England involved itself in the War of the Grand Alliance, primarily to prevent a French invasion restoring Marys father, James II. Spain, in the two centuries, had been the dominant global power, and the chief threat to Englands early transatlantic ambitions. The territorial ambitions of the French, however, led to the War of the Spanish Succession and the Napoleonic Wars. From the time of the end of the Seven Years War in 1763, Great Britain was the naval power. As had its predecessor, the English Army, the British Army fought the Kingdoms of Spain, France, and the Netherlands for supremacy in North America and the West Indies. With native and provincial assistance, the Army conquered New France in the North American theatre of the Seven Years War, the British Army suffered defeat in the American War of Independence, losing the Thirteen Colonies but holding on to Canada. The British Army was heavily involved in the Napoleonic Wars and served in campaigns across Europe. The war between the British and the First French Empire of Napoleon Bonaparte stretched around the world and at its peak, in 1813, the regular army contained over 250,000 men. A Coalition of Anglo-Dutch and Prussian Armies under the Duke of Wellington, the English had been involved, both politically and militarily, in Ireland since being given the Lordship of Ireland by the Pope in 1171. The campaign of the English republican Protector, Oliver Cromwell, involved uncompromising treatment of the Irish towns that had supported the Royalists during the English Civil War, the English Army stayed in Ireland primarily to suppress numerous Irish revolts and campaigns for independence. Having learnt from their experience in America, the British government sought a political solution, the British Army found itself fighting Irish rebels, both Protestant and Catholic, primarily in Ulster and Leinster in the 1798 rebellion. The Haldane Reforms of 1907 formally created the Territorial Force as the Armys volunteer reserve component by merging and reorganising the Volunteer Force, Militia, Great Britains dominance of the world had been challenged by numerous other powers, in the 20th century, most notably Germany

3.
Infantry
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Infantry is the general branch of an army that engages in military combat on foot. As the troops who engage with the enemy in close-ranged combat, infantry units bear the largest brunt of warfare, Infantry can enter and maneuver in terrain that is inaccessible to military vehicles and employ crew-served infantry weapons that provide greater and more sustained firepower. In English, the 16th-century term Infantry describes soldiers who walk to the battlefield, and there engage, fight, the term arose in Sixteenth-Century Spain, which boasted one of the first professional standing armies seen in Europe since the days of Rome. It was common to appoint royal princes to military commands, and the men under them became known as Infanteria. in the Canadian Army, the role of the infantry is to close with, and destroy the enemy. In the U. S. Army, the closes with the enemy, by means of fire and maneuver, in order to destroy or capture him, or to repel his assault by fire, close combat. In the U. S. Marine Corps, the role of the infantry is to locate, close with, and destroy the enemy fire and maneuver. Beginning with the Napoleonic Wars of the early 19th century, artillery has become a dominant force on the battlefield. Since World War I, combat aircraft and armoured vehicles have become dominant. In 20th and 21st century warfare, infantry functions most effectively as part of a combined arms team including artillery, armour, Infantry relies on organized formations to be employed in battle. These have evolved over time, but remain a key element to effective infantry development and deployment, until the end of the 19th century, infantry units were for the most part employed in close formations up until contact with the enemy. This allowed commanders to control of the unit, especially while maneuvering. The development of guns and other weapons with increased firepower forced infantry units to disperse in order to make them less vulnerable to such weapons. This decentralization of command was made possible by improved communications equipment, among the various subtypes of infantry is Medium infantry. This refers to infantry which are heavily armed and armored than heavy infantry. In the early period, medium infantry were largely eliminated due to discontinued use of body armour up until the 20th century. In the United States Army, Stryker Infantry is considered Medium Infantry, since they are heavier than light infantry, Infantry doctrine is the concise expression of how infantry forces contribute to campaigns, major operations, battles, and engagements. It is a guide to action, not a set of hard, doctrine provides a very common frame of reference across the military forces, allowing the infantry to function cooperatively in what are now called combined arms operations. Doctrine helps standardise operations, facilitating readiness by establishing common ways of accomplishing infantry tasks, doctrine links theory, history, experimentation, and practice

4.
Division (military)
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A division is a large military unit or formation, usually consisting of between 10,000 and 20,000 soldiers. Infantry divisions during the World Wars ranged between 10,000 and 30,000 in nominal strength, in most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades, in turn, several divisions typically make up a corps. In the West, the first general to think of organising an army into smaller units was Maurice de Saxe, Marshal General of France. He died at the age of 54, without having implemented his idea, victor-François de Broglie put the ideas into practice. He conducted successful practical experiments of the system in the Seven Years War. The first war in which the system was used systematically was the French Revolutionary War. It made the more flexible and easy to manoeuvre. Under Napoleon, the divisions were grouped together into corps, because of their increasing size, napoleons military success spread the divisional and corps system all over Europe, by the end of the Napoleonic Wars, all armies in Europe had adopted it. In modern times, most military forces have standardized their divisional structures, the peak use of the division as the primary combat unit occurred during World War II, when the belligerents deployed over a thousand divisions. With technological advances since then, the power of each division has increased. Divisions are often formed to organize units of a particular type together with support units to allow independent operations. In more recent times, divisions have mainly been organized as combined arms units with subordinate units representing various combat arms, in this case, the division often retains the name of a more specialized division, and may still be tasked with a primary role suited to that specialization. For the most part, large cavalry units did not remain after World War II, in general, two new types of cavalry were developed, air cavalry or airmobile, relying on helicopter mobility, and armored cavalry, based on an autonomous armored formation. The former was pioneered by the 11th Air Assault Division, formed on 1 February 1963 at Fort Benning, on 29 June 1965 the division was renamed as the 1st Cavalry Division, before its departure for the Vietnam War. After the end of the Vietnam War, the 1st Cavalry Division was reorganised and re-equipped with tanks, the development of the tank during World War I prompted some nations to experiment with forming them into division-size units. Many did this the way as they did cavalry divisions, by merely replacing cavalry with AFVs. This proved unwieldy in combat, as the units had many tanks, instead, a more balanced approach was taken by adjusting the number of tank, infantry, artillery, and support units. A panzer division was a division of the Wehrmacht and the Waffen-SS of Germany during World War II

5.
Gas attacks at Hulluch
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The Gas Attacks at Hulluch were two German cloud gas attacks on British troops during World War I, from 27–29 April 1916, near the village of Hulluch, 1-mile north of Loos in northern France. The gas attacks were part of an engagement between divisions of the II Bavarian Corps and divisions of the British I Corps, just before dawn on 27 April, the 16th Division and part of the 15th Division were subjected to a cloud gas attack near Hulluch. The gas cloud and artillery bombardment were followed by raiding parties, two days later the Germans began another gas attack but the wind turned and blew the gas back over the German lines. The gas used by the German troops at Hulluch was a mixture of chlorine and phosgene, the German gas was of sufficient concentration to penetrate the British PH gas helmets and the 16th Division was unjustly blamed for poor gas discipline. It was put out that the gas helmets of the division were of inferior manufacture, production of the Small Box Respirator, which had worked well during the attack, was accelerated. In early 1916 the British took over more of the Western Front, to allow the French Tenth Army to move south to Verdun, only around Armentières were the German defences on lower ground. The possibility of a withdrawal to more defensible ground, was rejected by Joffre. A substantial cadre of the trained officers and conscripts remained. The success of a local attack left the vulnerable to a counter-attack and captured positions were often more costly to hold. German artillery began a bombardment of British observation posts, supply points and communication trenches, supplemented by trench mortar. Shelling diminished from 24–25 April and on 26 April, the positions of the British 16th Division were bombarded, the next day was fine and warm, with a wind blowing towards the British lines. The 4th Bavarian Division was to follow up a gas attack on 27 April with patrols against the British positions, two days later, despite less favourable winds, a second gas discharge was ordered against the wishes of the local commanders, who were over-ruled. Rats had been moving away from the German trenches, which was inferred to be due to leaky gas cylinders. The 15th Division relief of the 12th Division from 24–30 April, was allowed to proceed, four reserve artillery batteries were moved into the 15th Division area and all units were required to rehearse gas alerts daily. The British were equipped with PH helmets, which protected against phosgene up to a concentration of 1,000 p. p. m. At 5,10 a. m. gas and smoke rose from the German trenches and moved towards the British trenches. The gas cloud was so thick at the beginning, that visibility was reduced to 2–3 yards, wearing gas helmets was necessary 3.5 miles behind the front line and the smell was noticed 15 miles away. Three German mines were exploded at 5,55 a. m. another artillery bombardment was fired, several raiding parties of about 20 men each, followed the gas and three managed to get into the British trenches

6.
Battle of the Somme
–
The Battle of the Somme, also known as the Somme Offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British and French empires against the German Empire. It took place between 1 July and 18 November 1916 on both sides of the reaches of the River Somme in France. The battle was intended to hasten a victory for the Allies and was the largest battle of the First World War on the Western Front, more than one million men were wounded or killed, making it one of the bloodiest battles in human history. The French and British had committed themselves to an offensive on the Somme during Allied discussions at Chantilly, Oise, in December 1915. Initial plans called for the French army to undertake the main part of the Somme offensive, the first day on the Somme was, in terms of casualties, also the worst day in the history of the British army, which suffered 57,470 casualties. These occurred mainly on the front between the Albert–Bapaume road and Gommecourt, where the attack was defeated and few British troops reached the German front line, the battle is notable for the importance of air power and the first use of the tank. At the end of the battle, British and French forces had penetrated 10 km into German-occupied territory, the Anglo-French armies failed to capture Péronne and halted 5 km from Bapaume, where the German armies maintained their positions over the winter. Debate continues over the necessity, significance and effect of the battle, David Frum opined that a century later, the Somme remains the most harrowing place-name in the history of the British Empire. Allied war strategy for 1916 was decided at the Chantilly Conference from 6–8 December 1915, in December 1915, General Sir Douglas Haig replaced Field Marshal Sir John French as Commander-in-Chief of the BEF. Haig favoured a British offensive in Flanders close to BEF supply routes, to drive the Germans from the Belgian coast, Haig was not formally subordinate to Marshal Joseph Joffre but the British played a lesser role on the Western Front and complied with French strategy. A week later the Germans began an offensive against the French at Verdun, by 31 May, the ambitious Franco-British plan for a decisive victory, had been reduced to a limited offensive to relieve pressure on the French at Verdun with a battle of attrition on the Somme. The Chief of the German General Staff, Erich von Falkenhayn, intended to end the war by splitting the Anglo-French Entente in 1916, Falkenhayn chose to attack towards Verdun to take the Meuse heights and make Verdun untenable. The British would then have to begin a hasty relief offensive, Falkenhayn expected the relief offensive to fall south of Arras against the Sixth Army and be destroyed. If such Franco-British defeats were not enough, Germany would attack the remnants of armies and end the western alliance for good. Eloi, south of Ypres and reduced the German counter-offensive strategy north of the Somme, to one of passive, the Battle of Verdun began a week after Joffre and Haig agreed to mount an offensive on the Somme. The battle changed the nature of the offensive on the Somme, as French divisions were diverted to Verdun, German overestimation of the cost of Verdun to the French contributed to the concentration of German infantry and guns on the north bank of the Somme. The German offensive at Verdun was suspended in July, and troops, guns, the Brusilov Offensive, absorbed the extra forces that had been requested on 2 June by Fritz von Below, commanding the German Second Army, for a spoiling attack on the Somme. During the offensive the Russians inflicted c. 1,500,000 losses including c. 407,000 prisoners, three divisions were ordered from France to the Eastern Front on 9 June and the spoiling attack on the Somme was abandoned

7.
Battle of Guillemont
–
The Battle of Guillemont was an attack by the Fourth Army on the village of Guillemont. The village is on the D20 running east to Combles, Longueval and Delville Wood lie to the north-west and Ginchy to the north-east. The village was on the flank of the British sector. The Fourth Army had advanced close to Guillemont during the Battle of Bazentin Ridge, the attacks were intended to advance the right flank of the Fourth Army and eliminate a salient further north at Delville Wood. German defences ringed the wood and had observation over the French Sixth Army area to the south, inexperience, unreliable machinery, guns and ammunition and an unpredictable flow of supplies from Britain, reduced the effectiveness of the British armies. The French Sixth and Tenth armies had difficulties and severe strain had been put on the German 2nd and 1st armies. Wilfrid Miles noted in the History of the Great War, that the defence of Guillemont was judged by observers to be the best performance of the war by the German army on the Western Front. Rain, congestion and relief of tired divisions, then forced a pause in French attacks until 12 September, in the Battle of Ginchy the Fourth Army captured the village, ready for the Battle of Flers–Courcelette. On 1 July, the Anglo-French offensive had captured the first German defensive line, from Foucaucourt on the bank to the vicinity of the Albert–Bapaume road. The German 2nd Army abandoned the line on the south bank in the XVII Corps area, to occupy a shorter line behind it close to Péronne. The Chief of Staff Generalmajor Grünert, was sacked by Falkenhayn that night, the 2nd Army lost 40,187 casualties in the first ten days, compared to 25,989 men in the first ten days at Verdun. On 17 July, Below issued another order, noting that unauthorised withdrawals were still being made. In August, the Germans retained far more ground than in July, Foch ordered the attack to be extended to the north of the river, although the transfer of artillery had put the main weight of the attack on the south side. Intelligence reports showed very high German casualties and that one of the fresh German divisions had previously lost 104 percent of its strength at Verdun. Belows order for unyielding defence was captured in late July, which indicated that German tactics were making attrition a feasible Allied objective. On 2 August, Haig issued a directive stating that Falkenhayn could continue to replace troops on the Somme, Anglo-French Intelligence estimates of German casualties ranged from 130, 000–175,000 losses in July. Bavarian units in the area around Guillemont, were believed to have maintained high morale, shortages of heavy howitzer ammunition in mid-July were made worse in areas under German observation and harassing-fire, as more German artillery arrived on the Somme front. Anglo-French conferences on railway policy on 15 and 18 June settled administrative questions on railway building, addition of extensions to lines and the building of all-weather connecting roads

8.
Battle of Ginchy
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The Battle of Ginchy took place on 9 September 1916 during the Battle of the Somme, when the 16th Division captured the German-held village. Ginchy is 1.5 kilometres north-east of Guillemont, at the junction of six roads on a rise overlooking Combles,4 kilometres to the south-east, attacks on Leuze Wood and attempts to re-take Ginchy on 4 and 5 September were also defeated by German counter-attacks. The 7th Division was relieved by the 16th Division and 55th Division on the evening of 7 September, on 9 September the British began a bombardment early in the morning but waited until late afternoon to advance, to deny the Germans time to counter-attack before dark. The British assault in the south by the 56th Division and the 16th Division reached Bouleaux Wood, on the northern flank Ginchy was captured by the 16th Division and several German counter-attacks were defeated. On the right flank the British line formed a salient at Longueval and Delville Wood, which ran west to Pozières and south to Maltz Horn Farm, the salient was overlooked by German positions from Guillemont to the south-east and High Wood to the north-west. A general relief of the German divisions on the Somme was known to have completed in late August. GHQ Intelligence considered a German division on the British front was worn-out after 4 1⁄2 days, of six more German divisions moved to the Somme by 28 August, only two had been known to be in reserve and the other four had been moved from quiet sectors without warning. News of Falkenhayns dismissal arrived on 30 August and was believed to foreshadow German emphasis on the Eastern Front, the wearing-out battles since late July and events elsewhere, led to a belief that the big Allied attack planned for mid-September could have decisive effect. The British and French armies were to co-operate to capture the high ground either side of the Combles valley, fighting to the west of Ginchy at Longueval and Delville Wood had begun on 14 July and continued until 3 September, when all but the eastern corner was captured. The area between the wood and Ginchy, known to the German defenders as the Entschnabel dominated the approaches to the village, attacks by XV Corps and III Corps on Delville Wood and High Wood took place during the XIV Corps operations to capture Ginchy. The 168th Brigade side-stepped left to take part of the line held by the 49th Brigade of the 16th Division. The 22nd Brigade, 7th Division had been withdrawn for two days, before being sent forward again for the attack on Ginchy. A noon attack was planned to mislead the Germans, on 6 September, a new attack was ordered with XIV Corps to advance to a line from Combles to Leuze Wood road, the Quadrilateral and Ginchy. The advance was then to continue to Hop Alley and Ale Alley, then from Pint Trench to Lager Lane on the road from Ginchy to Flers, III Corps was to take Wood Lane and the east corner of High Wood. The French Sixth Army attack as part of the joint plan to isolate Combles further south, as the creeping barrage met a standing barrage fired by the other half of the divisional artillery on each barrage line successively, the standing barrage would jump ahead to the next objective. German field fortifications had evolved since July from a trench-system into an outpost line in shell-holes, with supports, the hasty German counter-attack was forestalled and the remedy of a well-prepared limited counter-attack was rarely mounted, because of the chronic shortage of infantry, artillery and ammunition. Attempts to link shell-hole positions failed, because they were visible from the air, trenches were abandoned during an attack in preference for shell-holes further forward. Unobtrusive positions were much harder for British air observers to spot, trench-lines retained their value as rallying points and accommodation and new ones were built according to the defensive lessons of the Herbstschlacht

9.
Battle of Messines (1917)
–
The Nivelle Offensive in April and May had failed to achieve its more ambitious aims, led to the demoralisation of French troops and the dislocation of the Anglo-French strategy for 1917. The offensive at Messines forced the Germans to move reserves to Flanders from the Arras and Aisne fronts, the 4th Army divisions of Gruppe Wijtschate held the ridge, which were later reinforced by a division from Gruppe Ypern. The battle began with the detonation of a series of mines beneath German lines and this was followed by a creeping barrage 700 yards deep, covering the British troops as they secured the ridge, with support from tanks, cavalry patrols and aircraft. The effectiveness of the British mines, barrages and bombardments was improved by advances in artillery survey, flash-spotting, British attacks from 8–14 June advanced the front line beyond the former German Sehnen line. The Battle of Messines was a prelude to the much larger Third Battle of Ypres campaign, in January 1916, General Sir Herbert Plumer recommended to Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig the capture of Messines Ridge before an operation to capture the Gheluvelt plateau further north. The Flanders campaign was postponed because of the Battle of Verdun in 1916, Haig intended to force the Germans to move troops away from the French armies on the Aisne front, where demoralisation amid the failure of the Nivelle Offensive had led to mutinies. The British would gain observation of the slope of Menin Ridge at the west end of the Gheluvelt plateau. The front line around Ypres had changed little since the end of the Second Battle of Ypres. The British held the city, while the Germans held the ground of the Messines–Wytschaete Ridge to the south, the lower ridges to the east. The Ypres front was a salient bulging into the German lines but was overlooked by German artillery observers on the higher ground, the British had little ground observation of the German rear areas and valleys east of the ridges. Gradients varied from negligible, to 1,60 at Hooge and 1,33 at Zonnebeke, underneath the soil was London clay, sand and silt. The area was considered by the British to be drier than Loos, Givenchy, the Second Army devised a centralised artillery plan of great sophistication, following the practice established at the Battle of Arras in April 1917. The use of survey, gun calibration, weather data. Target-finding became systematic, with the use of new sound-ranging equipment, better organisation of flash-spotting, Second Army counter-battery artillery bombardments increased from twelve in the week ending 19 April, to 438 in the last ten days before the attack. A survey of captured ground after the found that 90 percent of the German artillery positions had been plotted. The 2nd Field Survey Company also assisted the mining companies by establishing the positions of objectives within the German lines, using intersection and a special series of aerial photographs. The company surveyed advanced artillery positions, so that moving forward to them once the battle had begun could begin firing as soon as they arrived at the positions. The British had begun an offensive against the German-held Wijtschate salient in 1916

10.
Battle of Passchendaele
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The Battle of Passchendaele was a major campaign of the First World War, fought by the Allies against the German Empire. Passchendaele lay on the last ridge east of Ypres,5 miles from a junction at Roulers. The next stage of the Allied plan was an advance to Thourout–Couckelaere, to close the German-controlled railway running through Roulers, further operations and a British supporting attack along the Belgian coast from Nieuwpoort, combined with Operation Hush, were to have reached Bruges and then the Dutch frontier. The campaign ended in November, when the Canadian Corps captured Passchendaele, apart from attacks in December. In 1918, the Battle of the Lys and the Fifth Battle of Ypres were fought before the Allies occupied the Belgian coast, a campaign in Flanders was controversial in 1917 and has remained so. The British Prime Minister, David Lloyd George, opposed the offensive, field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig, commanding the British Expeditionary Force, did not receive approval for the Flanders operation from the War Cabinet until 25 July. Belgian independence had been recognised in the Treaty of London which created a sovereign, the German invasion of Belgium on 4 August 1914, in violation of Article VII of the treaty, was the reason given by the British government for declaring war on Germany. British military operations in Belgium began with the arrival of the British Expeditionary Force at Mons on 22 August. On 10 October, Lieutenant-General Erich von Falkenhayn, the Chief of the German General Staff, ordered an attack towards Dunkirk and Calais, followed by a turn south to gain a decisive victory. On 16 October, the Belgians and some French reinforcements began the defence of western Belgium, when the offensive failed, Falkenhayn ordered the capture of Ypres to gain a local advantage. By 18 November, the First Battle of Ypres ended in failure, large British offensive operations in Flanders were not possible in 1915, due to the consequent lack of resources. The Germans conducted their own Flanders offensive at the Second Battle of Ypres, Sir Douglas Haig succeeded Sir John French as Commander-in-Chief of the BEF on 19 December 1915. A week after his appointment, Haig met Vice-Admiral Sir Reginald Bacon, Haig preferred an advance from Ypres, to bypass the flooded area around the Yser and the coast, before a coastal attack was attempted, to clear the coast to the Dutch border. Other operations were begun by the British to regain territory or to evict the Germans from ground overlooking their positions, engagements took place on 12 February at Boesinghe and on 14 February at Hooge and Sanctuary Wood. There were actions from 14–15 February and 1–4 March at The Bluff,27 March –16 April at the St. Eloi Craters, in January 1917, the Second Army held the line in Flanders from Laventie to Boesinghe with eleven divisions and up to two in reserve. There was much trench mortaring, mining and raiding by both sides and from January to May, the Second Army had 20,000 casualties. In May, reinforcements began moving to Flanders from the south, in January 1916, General Herbert Plumer, the Second Army commander, began to plan offensives against Messines Ridge, Lille and Houthulst Forest. General Henry Rawlinson was also ordered to plan an attack from the Ypres Salient on 4 February, planning continued but the Battle of Verdun, at meetings in November 1916, Haig, the French commander-in-chief Joseph Joffre and the other Allies met at Chantilly

11.
Spring Offensive
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The Germans had realised that their only remaining chance of victory was to defeat the Allies before the overwhelming human and matériel resources of the United States could be fully deployed. They also had the advantage in numbers afforded by the nearly 50 divisions freed by the Russian surrender. There were four German offensives, codenamed Michael, Georgette, Gneisenau, once this was achieved, it was hoped that the French would seek armistice terms. The other offensives were subsidiary to Michael and were designed to divert Allied forces from the offensive on the Somme. No clear objective was established before the start of the offensives and once the operations were underway, the Allies concentrated their main forces in the essential areas, while leaving strategically worthless ground, devastated by years of combat, lightly defended. The Germans were unable to move supplies and reinforcements fast enough to maintain their advance, the fast-moving stormtroopers leading the attack could not carry enough food and ammunition to sustain themselves for long and all the German offensives petered out, in part through lack of supplies. By late April 1918, the danger of a German breakthrough had passed, the German Army had suffered heavy casualties and now occupied ground of dubious value which would prove impossible to hold with such depleted units. In August 1918, the Allies began a counter-offensive with the support of 1–2 million fresh American troops and using new artillery techniques, the German government and Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg, nominally the Chief of the General Staff, were not party to the planning process. Eventually it was decided to launch Operation Michael near Saint-Quentin, at the hinge between the French and British armies, and strike north to Arras, the main reason for the choice was tactical expediency. The ground on this sector of the front would dry out much sooner after the winter and spring rains and it was also a line of least resistance as the British and French armies were weak in the sector. However, these remained only secondary and weaker operations, subordinate to Michael, the constant changing of operational targets once the offensive was underway gave the impression the German command had no coherent strategic goal. Any capture of an important strategic objective, such as the Channel ports, the success of Operation Michael led German infantry to advance too far from its supply bases and railheads. The stormtrooper units leading the advance carried supplies for only a few days, the advance was slowed by supply shortages, which gave Allied commanders more time to reinforce the threatened areas and to slow the advance still more. The stormtrooper tactic was to attack and disrupt enemy headquarters, artillery units, each major formation creamed off its best and fittest soldiers into storm units, several complete divisions were formed from these elite units. The Germans also failed to arm their forces with a mobile force, such as cavalry. This tactical error meant the infantry had to keep up a tempo of advance. Notwithstanding the effectiveness of the stormtroopers, the following German infantry often made attacks in large traditional waves, to enable the initial breakthrough, Lieutenant Colonel Georg Bruchmüller, a German artillery officer, developed the Feuerwalze, an effective and economical creeping barrage scheme. There were three phases, first, a bombardment on the enemys command and communications, then, destruction of their artillery

12.
World War I
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World War I, also known as the First World War, the Great War, or the War to End All Wars, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history and it was one of the deadliest conflicts in history, and paved the way for major political changes, including revolutions in many of the nations involved. The war drew in all the worlds great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances, the Allies versus the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. These alliances were reorganised and expanded as more nations entered the war, Italy, Japan, the trigger for the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. This set off a crisis when Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia. Within weeks, the powers were at war and the conflict soon spread around the world. On 25 July Russia began mobilisation and on 28 July, the Austro-Hungarians declared war on Serbia, Germany presented an ultimatum to Russia to demobilise, and when this was refused, declared war on Russia on 1 August. Germany then invaded neutral Belgium and Luxembourg before moving towards France, after the German march on Paris was halted, what became known as the Western Front settled into a battle of attrition, with a trench line that changed little until 1917. On the Eastern Front, the Russian army was successful against the Austro-Hungarians, in November 1914, the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers, opening fronts in the Caucasus, Mesopotamia and the Sinai. In 1915, Italy joined the Allies and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers, Romania joined the Allies in 1916, after a stunning German offensive along the Western Front in the spring of 1918, the Allies rallied and drove back the Germans in a series of successful offensives. By the end of the war or soon after, the German Empire, Russian Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, national borders were redrawn, with several independent nations restored or created, and Germanys colonies were parceled out among the victors. During the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, the Big Four imposed their terms in a series of treaties, the League of Nations was formed with the aim of preventing any repetition of such a conflict. This effort failed, and economic depression, renewed nationalism, weakened successor states, and feelings of humiliation eventually contributed to World War II. From the time of its start until the approach of World War II, at the time, it was also sometimes called the war to end war or the war to end all wars due to its then-unparalleled scale and devastation. In Canada, Macleans magazine in October 1914 wrote, Some wars name themselves, during the interwar period, the war was most often called the World War and the Great War in English-speaking countries. Will become the first world war in the sense of the word. These began in 1815, with the Holy Alliance between Prussia, Russia, and Austria, when Germany was united in 1871, Prussia became part of the new German nation. Soon after, in October 1873, German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck negotiated the League of the Three Emperors between the monarchs of Austria-Hungary, Russia and Germany

13.
Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener
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His term as Commander-in-Chief of the Army in India saw him quarrel with another eminent proconsul, the Viceroy Lord Curzon, who eventually resigned. Kitchener then returned to Egypt as British Agent and Consul-General, in 1914, at the start of the First World War, Kitchener became Secretary of State for War, a Cabinet Minister. Kitchener died on 5 June 1916 when HMS Hampshire sank west of the Orkney Islands and he was making his way to Russia in order to attend negotiations when the ship struck a German mine. He was one of more than 600 killed on board the ship, Kitchener was born in Ballylongford near Listowel, County Kerry, in Ireland, son of army officer Henry Horatio Kitchener and Frances Anne Chevallier. His father had recently bought land in Ireland under a scheme to encourage the purchase of land after selling his commission. They then moved to Switzerland where the young Kitchener was educated at Montreux, then at the Royal Military Academy, pro-French and eager to see action, he joined a French field ambulance unit in the Franco-Prussian War. His father took him back to England after he caught pneumonia after ascending in a balloon to see the French Army of the Loire in action. Commissioned into the Royal Engineers on 4 January 1871, his service in France had violated British neutrality, and he was reprimanded by the Duke of Cambridge, the commander-in-chief. He served in Palestine, Egypt, and Cyprus as a surveyor, learned Arabic, Sir Walter Kitchener, had also entered the army, and was Governor of Bermuda from 1908 to 1912. In 1874, at age 24, Kitchener was assigned by the Palestine Exploration Fund to a mapping-survey of the Holy Land, replacing Charles Tyrwhitt-Drake, who had died of malaria. Conder and Kitchener’s expedition became known as the Survey of Western Palestine because it was confined to the area west of the Jordan River. The survey collected data on the topography and toponymy of the area, as well as local flora, the results of the survey were published in an eight-volume series, with Kitchener’s contribution in the first three tomes. This survey has had an effect on the Middle East for several reasons, The ordnance survey serves as the basis for the grid system used in the modern maps of Israel. The collection of data compiled by Conder and Kitchener are still consulted by archaeologists, the survey itself effectively delineated and defined the political borders of the southern Levant. For instance, the border between Israel and Lebanon is established at the point in upper Galilee where Conder and Kitchener’s survey stopped. In 1878 having completed the survey of Western Palestine, Kitchener was sent to Cyprus to undertake a survey of newly acquired British protectorate. Then in 1879 he became vice-consul in Anatolia, in 1883 Kitchener became a Freemason. On 4 January 1883 Kitchener was promoted to captain, given the Turkish rank bimbashi, Egypt had recently become a British puppet state, its army led by British officers, although still nominally under the sovereignty of the Khedive and his nominal overlord the Sultan of Turkey

14.
Kitchener's Army
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It originated on the recommendation of Horatio Herbert Kitchener, then the Secretary of State for War. Kitcheners original intention was that it would be formed and ready to be put into action in 1917, the first use in a major action came at the Battle of Loos. Contrary to the belief that the war would be over by Christmas 1914, Kitchener predicted a long. He believed that arrival in Europe of a force of new. In the early days of the war, the Territorial Force could not reinforce the army, as it lacked modern equipment. In addition, it took time to form First-Line units composed only of men who had volunteered for General Service and those recruited into the New Army were used to form complete battalions under existing British Army Regiments. These new battalions had titles of the form xxth Battalion, <regiment name>, the first New Army divisions were used at the Battle of Loos in the autumn of 1915, and they were sorely tested in the Battle of the Somme. All five of the army groups were made up of volunteer recruits. Due to the numbers of men wishing to sign up. There were many problems in equipping and providing shelter for the new recruits, rapidly the Government added many new recruitment centres, which eased the admissions burden, and began a programme of temporary construction at the main training camps. Almost 2.5 million men volunteered for Kitcheners Army, by the beginning of 1916, the queues were not so long anymore. Information about the nature of the war had reached Great Britain. Great Britain had to resort to conscription like the great powers involved in the war. The first conscripts arrived in France in late 1916 to fill the gaps in the volunteer units, roughly half of those who served in the British Army throughout the war, including more than half of the five million men serving in the British Army in 1918, were conscripts. A recruit accepted into the army was first sent to his Regimental depot, next he was sent to the main training camps to join his battalion. In practice, no Regiment had the required stocks of equipment, or the manpower to train the flood of recruits, to mitigate this problem, the army issued old stored uniforms, including First Boer War–vintage red jackets. Some regiments bought their own uniform and boots with money paid from public collections, many regiments were also issued with emergency blue uniforms, popularly known as Kitchener Blue. Whilst this crisis went on, the soldiers wore regimental and unit badges or patches on their clothing, many photographs from the era show uniformed soldiers drilling alongside civilian clothed soldiers, perhaps led by red-jacketed NCOs

15.
National Volunteers
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The National Volunteers were the product of the Irish political crisis over the implementation of Home Rule in 1912–14. The Third Home Rule Bill had been proposed in 1912 under the British Liberal government, after a campaign by John Redmond, however, its implementation was delayed in the face of mass resistance by Irish Unionists. This had begun with the introduction of the bill into Parliament, in 1913 they formed the Ulster Volunteers, an armed wing of Ulster Unionism and organised locally by the Orange Order, the Ulster Volunteers stated that they would resist Home Rule by force. The motion was opposed by the radical members of the committee, notably Patrick Pearse, Sean MacDermott, and Eamonn Ceannt. With the support of the Irish Party the Volunteer organisation grew dramatically and he pledged his support to the Allied cause, saying in his address, The interests of Ireland — of the whole of Ireland — are at stake in this war. I say to you, therefore, your duty is twofold, secondly, he hoped that the Volunteers, with arms and training from the British, would become the nucleus of an Irish Army after Home Rule was implemented. Militant nationalists reacted angrily against Redmonds support for the war, however, the great majority of the Volunteers supported Redmond, and became known as the National Volunteers. Five other MPs, J. L. Esmonde, Stephen Gwynn, Willie Redmond, William Redmond, many Irishmen enlisted voluntarily in Irish regiments of the New British Army, forming part of the 10th and 16th Divisions. Out of a National Volunteer membership of about 150,000, another 7,500 joined reserve battalions in Ireland. Recruiting for the war among the National Volunteers, after an initial burst of enthusiasm, according to historian Fergus Campbell, most of the members of the National Volunteers were farmers sons, and members of this social group were reluctant to join the colours. A police report of late 1914 commented, Though the large majority of the nominal National Volunteers approve of Mr. Redmonds pronouncement, only very few will enlist. A contemporary writer felt that, at the back of it was a feeling that to fight for the British Empire was a form of disloyalty to Ireland. Moreover, Redmonds hopes for an Irish Army Corps were also to end in disappointment for him, instead, a New Army 16th Division was created. The Division was largely officered by Englishmen, which was not a decision in nationalist Ireland. In addition, Redmonds earlier statement, that the Irish New Army units would return armed and capable of enforcing Home Rule, aroused War Office suspicions. The wars popularity in Ireland and the popularity of John Redmond, in addition, the postponement of the implementation of Home Rule damaged both the IPP and the National Volunteers. The majority of the National Volunteers did not enlist in the British Army, John Redmond had intended that they would form an official home defence force for Ireland during the War, but the British War Office baulked at arming and training the Irish nationalist movement. The INV were, even in comparison to the UVF, an inefficient military force in 1914, lacked trained officers, finances, in fact, the National Volunteers fell into decline as the war went on

16.
British Expeditionary Force (World War I)
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The British Expeditionary Force or BEF was the British Army sent to the Western Front during the First World War. Planning for a British Expeditionary Force began with the Haldane reforms of the British Army carried out by the Secretary of State for War Richard Haldane following the Second Boer War. The term British Expeditionary Force is often used to only to the forces present in France prior to the end of the First Battle of Ypres on 22 November 1914. By the end of 1914—after the battles of Mons, Le Cateau, an alternative endpoint of the BEF was 26 December 1914, when it was divided into the First and Second Armies. B. E. F. remained the name of the British armies in France. Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany, who was dismissive of the BEF. The treacherous English and walk over General Frenchs contemptible little army, hence, in later years, the survivors of the regular army dubbed themselves The Old Contemptibles. No evidence of any such order being issued by the Kaiser has ever been found, in October 1914, 7th Division arrived in France, forming the basis of III Corps and the cavalry had grown to form the Cavalry Corps of three divisions. By December 1914, the BEF had expanded to such an extent that the First Army, the force was commanded by Field Marshal Sir John French until December 1915, when he was replaced by General Sir Douglas Haig. The BEFs Chief of Staff on mobilization was General Archibald Murray and he was replaced in January 1915 by General William Robertson. Lieutenant-General Launcelot Kiggell then served as Chief of Staff from December 1915 to January 1917 when he was succeeded by Lieutenant-General Herbert Lawrence, the two initial Army Corps were commanded by Douglas Haig and Horace Smith-Dorrien. As the Regular Armys strength declined, the numbers were made up, first by the Territorial Force, by the end of August 1914, he had raised six new divisions and by March 1915, the number of divisions had increased to 29. The Territorial Force was also expanded, raising second and third battalions and forming eight new divisions. The Third Army was formed in July 1915 and with the influx of troops from Kitcheners volunteers and further reorganisation, the Fourth Army and the Reserve Army, became the Fifth Army in 1916. The BEF grew from six divisions of British regular army and reserves in 1914, to encompass the British Empires war effort on the Western front in 1918 and some of its allies. Over the course of the war 5,399,563 men served with the BEF, the First Army was formed on 26 December 1914. Its first commander was Douglas Haig promoted from command of the I Corps, when Haig took over command of the BEF in 1915, the new commander was General Henry Horne. First Army remained in France until the end of the war, the Second Army was formed at the same time as the First Army on 26 December 1914

17.
William Bernard Hickie
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Major-General Sir William Bernard Hickie, KCB was an Irish-born senior British Army officer and an Irish nationalist politician. As a British Army officer he saw service in the Second Boer War from 1899 to 1902, was A. Q. M. G. in the Irish Command from 1912 to 1914. He commanded a brigade of the British Expeditionary Force in 1914 and was Commander of the 16th Division from 1915 on the Western Front. From a long line and famous Gaelic stock, William Hickie’s name is best remembered as one of the notable Irishman who served during the Great War. Two of his four brothers served, one as a Major in the Royal Artillery before becoming a priest. Hickie was educated at Oscott College, Birmingham, a seminary for training youths of prosperous Roman Catholic families. His sister Dolores married the soldier, explorer and author Henry Hugh Peter Deasy, being destined for a military career, Hickie attended the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, from 1882 to 1885. He left Southampton for South Africa on board the SS Canada in early February 1900 and he was subsequently in command of a corps until eventually at the end of 1900 he was given command of an independent column of all arms. This he held for eighteen months and he served with distinction at the Battle of Bothaville in November 1900. In May 1912 promoted Colonel, he became Quartermaster General of the Irish Command at Royal Hospital Kilmainham, the next two years which elapsed were devoted to preparation for war, which the War Office authorities had made known was now inevitable. Promoted Major General he took over from Lt. General Sir Lawrence Parsons, Hickie - one of a rare breed, a senior, Irish, Catholic officer - was a popular replacement. After putting the division through intensive training, it left under Irish command of each man took personal pride. The 47th and 48th Brigade were in the trenches behind Abbeville by Christmas 1915, during this period the Division made considerable progress in developing its operational techniques but at a price in losses. The growing shortage of Irish replacement recruits was successfully met by Hickie through integrating non-Irish soldiers into the division, in January 1918 he was knighted a Knight Commander of the Bath for his services in France and distinguished service in the field. Although promised a new command, this did not happen before the Armistice in November and his titles included C. B. awarded in 1912 and K. C. B. awarded 1918. He retired from the army in 1922, when the six Irish line infantry regiments that had their recruiting grounds in the counties of the new Irish Free State were all disbanded. He had identified himself strongly with the Home Rule Act and said that its scrapping was a disaster, although charming, good-looking, and popular with the women, Hickie never married. He died on 3 November 1950 in Dublin and was buried in Terryglass, the British Army in the Great War, The 16th Division Oireachtas Members Database – Profile Department of the Taoiseach, Irish Soldiers in the First World War Citations by William Bernhard Hickie

18.
Western Front (World War I)
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The Western Front or Western Theater was the main theatre of war during World War I. Following the outbreak of war in August 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by invading Luxembourg and Belgium, the tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne. Following the Race to the Sea, both sides dug in along a line of fortified trenches, stretching from the North Sea to the Swiss frontier with France. This line remained unchanged for most of the war. Between 1915 and 1917 there were several major offensives along this front, the attacks employed massive artillery bombardments and massed infantry advances. However, a combination of entrenchments, machine gun emplacements, barbed wire, as a result, no significant advances were made. In an effort to break the deadlock, this front saw the introduction of new technology, including poison gas, aircraft. But it was only after the adoption of improved tactics that some degree of mobility was restored, the German Armys Spring Offensive of 1918 was made possible by the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk that marked the end of the conflict on the Eastern Front. In spite of the stagnant nature of this front, this theatre would prove decisive. The terms of peace were agreed upon with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, belgiums neutrality was guaranteed by Britain under the 1839 Treaty of London, this caused Britain to join the war at the expiration of its ultimatum at 11 pm GMT on 4 August. Armies under German generals Alexander von Kluck and Karl von Bülow attacked Belgium on 4 August 1914, Luxembourg had been occupied without opposition on 2 August. The first battle in Belgium was the Siege of Liège, which lasted from 5–16 August, Liège was well fortified and surprised the German Army under von Bülow with its level of resistance. German heavy artillery was able to demolish the main forts within a few days. Following the fall of Liège, most of the Belgian field army retreated to Antwerp, leaving the garrison of Namur isolated, with the Belgian capital, Brussels, although the German army bypassed Antwerp, it remained a threat to their flank. Another siege followed at Namur, lasting from about 20–23 August, for their part, the French had five armies deployed on their borders. The pre-war French offensive plan, Plan XVII, was intended to capture Alsace-Lorraine following the outbreak of hostilities, on 7 August the VII Corps attacked Alsace with its objectives being to capture Mulhouse and Colmar. The main offensive was launched on 14 August with 1st and 2nd Armies attacking toward Sarrebourg-Morhange in Lorraine, in keeping with the Schlieffen Plan, the Germans withdrew slowly while inflicting severe losses upon the French. The French advanced the 3rd and 4th Armies toward the Saar River and attempted to capture Saarburg, attacking Briey and Neufchateau, before being driven back

19.
Ireland in World War I
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During World War I, Ireland was part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, which entered the war in August 1914 as one of the Entente Powers, along with France and the Russian Empire. Occurring during Irelands Revolutionary period, the Irish peoples experience of the war was complex and its memory of it divisive. Over 200,000 Irishmen fought in the war, in theatres and either 30,000, or. In addition, Britains intention to impose conscription in Ireland in 1918 provoked widespread resistance, with the end of the Great War, Sinn Féin won the Irish general election of 1918. This was followed by the Irish Declaration of Independence and following that and this war ended with the Anglo-Irish Treaty, which allowed for the Partition of Ireland. The acceptance of the treaty by a majority of the Dáil led to the Irish Civil War between pro-treaty and anti-treaty forces, the pro-treaty forces were victorious and Ireland was partitioned, with twenty-six of the thirty-two counties forming the Irish Free State. The First World War was immediately preceded in Ireland by a political crisis over Home Rule or Irish self-government. The Third Home Rule Act was placed on the books with Royal Assent on 18 September 1914. However, the operation of this Bill was suspended for the duration of the war, moreover, it was resisted fiercely by Unionists, concentrated in Ulster. In 1913, they had formed a militia, the Ulster Volunteers. The outbreak of war temporarily defused this crisis, Redmonds Home Defence initiative was widely acclaimed, though not by all of the Irish Volunteers. On 20 September he called upon the Irish Volunteers to enlist in existing Irish regiments of the British army, in support of the Allied war effort, during a speech in Woodenbridge, Co. Wicklow. to the best of her ability to go where ever the firing line extends, in defence of right, of freedom and it would be a disgrace forever to our country otherwise. Redmonds call came at a time of heightened emotions as the swift German advance through neutral Belgium was also threatening Paris, many other parliamentary leaders, such as William OBrien MP, Thomas O’Donnell MP. and Joseph Devlin MP. supported Redmonds decision. The 180,000 Irish Volunteers were divided by Redmonds support for the British war effort, a large majority followed him, forming the National Volunteers. About 25,000 of these went on to serve in Irish regiments of the New British Army during the war, the remaining 10,000 Volunteers under Eoin MacNeill declared they would keep their organisation together and in Ireland until Home Rule was passed. A further 100,000 or more men enlisted from around Ireland in the New Army divisions for the duration of the war, Redmonds own son, William Redmond, enlisted, as did his brother Major Willie Redmond MP, despite being aged over 50 years. They were among a group of five Irish MPs who enlisted, initially the Catholic Church in Ireland was also supportive of the War, under the slogan of save Catholic Belgium

20.
College Green
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College Green is a three-sided plaza in the centre of Dublin. On its northern side is the Bank of Ireland building, which until 1800 was Irelands Parliament House, to its east stands Trinity College Dublin. To its south stands a series of 19th-century buildings that are mostly banks, streets leading onto College Green are Dame Street to the west, Grafton Street to the south, and Westmoreland Street to the north. College Green has been used as a point for major political rallies. In the mid-1990s, United States President Bill Clinton addressed a mass crowd, President Barack Obama spoke there in a major address during his visit to Ireland in May 2011. The area was known as Hoggen Green from the Old Norse word haugr meaning mound. The cemetery at College Green consisted of burial mounds, which are thought to have contained the remains of some of the Norse kings of Dublin. Between Church Lane and Suffolk Street the Norse had their Thing, an assembly and meeting-place, all along College Green, called Hoggen Green by the English, lay their barrows. Hoggen gave its name to the convent of St Mary de Hogges, which stood roughly where the Bank of Ireland is now, and was a major landowner in the area until the Reformation. Two major public monuments stand in College Green, A 19th-century statue of Henry Grattan, one of the members of the old Irish Parliament. Further back stands a statue of patriot Thomas Davis, previously, this was the location of one of Dublins finest equestrian statues, of King William III of England on Horseback, by Grinling Gibbons. It was taken down after it was damaged in an explosion in November 1928. Dalys Club, originally frequented by members of the old Irish Parliament, moved to number 3, College Green, in 1791 and remained there until it closed in the 1820s. College Green now exists as a running from the front gates of Trinity College Dublin to pedestrian traffic lights close to The Central Bank in Dame Street at the junction of Trinity Street. Dubliners often incorrectly identify the street as Dame Street because it continues into Dame Street, College Street which runs from Pearse Street and Westmoreland Street passing railings on the Northern side of Trinity College Dublin is often thought to be College Green. Since July 2009, College Green, during times on working days, has been accessible only to pedestrians, buses, taxis. In February 2016, it was announced that most of College Green would be pedestrianised to create a public space in front of the Bank of Ireland. Statues in Dublin List of streets and squares in Dublin

21.
Armistice Day
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The date was declared a national holiday in many allied nations, and coincides with Remembrance Day and Veterans Day, public holidays. The first Armistice Day was held at Buckingham Palace, commencing with King George V hosting a Banquet in Honour of the President of the French Republic during the hours of 10 November 1919. The first official Armistice Day events were held in the grounds of Buckingham Palace on the morning of 11 November 1919. This would set the trend for a day of Remembrance for decades to come, in 1919, South African Sir Percy Fitzpatrick proposed a two-minute silence to Lord Milner. People observe a one or more commonly a two-minute moment of silence at 11,00 a. m. local time, similar ceremonies developed in other countries during the inter-war period. m. Presumably to coincide with the traditional 11,00 a. m. time for Armistice ceremonies taking place in Europe due to the time difference between Eastern Australia and Europe. Veterans in New Zealand have used silence to pay homage to departed comrades in general at veteran functions, as the toast of Fallen or Absent Comrades. In Britain, beginning in 1939, the silence was moved to the Sunday nearest to 11 November in order not to interfere with wartime production should 11 November fall on a weekday. They adopted the name Remembrance Day or Remembrance Sunday, other countries also changed the name of the holiday just prior to or after World War II, to honor veterans of that and subsequent conflicts. The United States chose All Veterans Day, later shortened to Veterans Day, to honor military veterans. Both Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday are commemorated formally, in recent years Armistice Day has become increasingly recognised, and many people now attend the 11,00 a. m. In New Zealand and Australia observance ceremonies take place, but the day is not a public holiday, anzac Day, on 25 April, is a public holiday and day of remembrance. In Canada,11 November is a time to both living and dead veterans. Patriotic displays are created annually, and veterans are offered free transit and cab rides in a number of cities, including Halifax, Ottawa, Toronto, Mississauga, London, Calgary, and Vancouver. In the U. S. the function of Veterans Day is subtly different from that of other 11 November observances, instead of specifically honoring war dead, Veterans Day honors all American veterans living and dead. Armistice Day remains the name of the holiday in France and Belgium, in Italy the end of World War I is commemorated on 4 November, the day of the Armistice of Villa Giusti. In Denmark, Netherlands and Norway, the end of World War I is not commemorated as the three countries remained neutral, Denmark instead observes Flagday on 5 September in commemoration of both living and dead soldiers who served in any conflict. The same counts for 4 May in Netherlands

22.
John Redmond
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John Edward Redmond was an Irish nationalist politician, barrister, and MP in the British House of Commons. He was best known as leader of the moderate Irish Parliamentary Party from 1900 until his death in 1918 and he was also leader of the paramilitary organisation the Irish National Volunteers. He was born to an old prominent Catholic family in rural Ireland and he took over control of the minority IPP faction loyal to Charles Stewart Parnell when that leader died in 1891. Redmond was a politician who achieved the two main objectives of his political life, party unity and, in September 1914, the passing of the Irish Home Rule Act. The Act granted limited self-government to Ireland, within the United Kingdom, however, implementation of Home Rule was suspended by the outbreak of the First World War. However, after the Easter Rising of 1916, Irish public opinion shifted in favour of militant republicanism and full Irish independence, in sharp contrast to Parnell, Redmond lacked charisma. He worked well in small committees, but had success in arousing large audiences. Parnell always chose the nominees to Parliament, now they were selected by the local party organisations, giving Redmond numerous weak MPs over whom he had little control. He never tried to understand the unionist forces emerging in Ulster, Redmond was further weakened in 1914 by the formation by Sinn Féin members of the Irish Volunteers. His enthusiastic support for the British war effort alienated many Irish nationalists and his party had been increasingly hollowed out, and a major crisis—notably the Easter Rising—was enough to destroy it. John Edward Redmond was born at Ballytrent House, Kilrane, County Wexford and he was the eldest son of William Archer Redmond, MP by Mary, daughter of General Hoey, the brother of Francis Hoey, heir of the Hoey seat, Dunganstown Castle, County Wicklow. For over seven hundred years the Redmonds had been a prominent Catholic gentry family in County Wexford and Wexford town. They were one of the oldest Hiberno-Norman families, and had for a time been known as the Redmonds of The Hall. His more immediate family were a political dynasty themselves. After his death in 1866, his nephew, William Archer Redmond, John Redmond was the brother of Willie Redmond, MP for Wexford and East Clare, and the father of William Redmond, whose wife was Bridget Redmond. Redmonds family heritage was more complex than that of most of his nationalist political colleagues and his mother came from a Protestant and unionist family, although she had converted to Catholicism on marriage, she never converted to nationalism. As a student, young John exhibited the seriousness that many would come to associate with him. After finishing at Clongowes, Redmond attended Trinity College, Dublin to study law, in 1876 he left to live with his father in London, acting as his assistant in Westminster, where he developed more fascination for politics than for law

23.
England
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England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, the Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east, the country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain in its centre and south, and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight. England became a state in the 10th century, and since the Age of Discovery. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the worlds first industrialised nation, Englands terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains, especially in central and southern England. However, there are uplands in the north and in the southwest, the capital is London, which is the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland through another Act of Union to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain, the name England is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means land of the Angles. The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages, the Angles came from the Angeln peninsula in the Bay of Kiel area of the Baltic Sea. The earliest recorded use of the term, as Engla londe, is in the ninth century translation into Old English of Bedes Ecclesiastical History of the English People. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its spelling was first used in 1538. The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, Germania, the etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars, it has been suggested that it derives from the shape of the Angeln peninsula, an angular shape. An alternative name for England is Albion, the name Albion originally referred to the entire island of Great Britain. The nominally earliest record of the name appears in the Aristotelian Corpus, specifically the 4th century BC De Mundo, in it are two very large islands called Britannia, these are Albion and Ierne. But modern scholarly consensus ascribes De Mundo not to Aristotle but to Pseudo-Aristotle, the word Albion or insula Albionum has two possible origins. Albion is now applied to England in a poetic capacity. Another romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England, Lloegr, the earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to approximately 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago, Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during the Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years

24.
Belfast
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Belfast is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, the second largest on the island of Ireland, and the heart of the tenth largest Primary Urban Area in the United Kingdom. On the River Lagan, it had a population of 286,000 at the 2011 census and 333,871 after the 2015 council reform, Belfast was granted city status in 1888. Belfast played a key role in the Industrial Revolution, and was an industrial centre until the latter half of the 20th century. It has sustained a major aerospace and missiles industry since the mid 1930s, industrialisation and the inward migration it brought made Belfast Irelands biggest city at the beginning of the 20th century. Today, Belfast remains a centre for industry, as well as the arts, higher education, business, and law, additionally, Belfast city centre has undergone considerable expansion and regeneration in recent years, notably around Victoria Square. Belfast is served by two airports, George Best Belfast City Airport in the city, and Belfast International Airport 15 miles west of the city. Although the county borough of Belfast was created when it was granted city status by Queen Victoria in 1888, the site of Belfast has been occupied since the Bronze Age. The Giants Ring, a 5, 000-year-old henge, is located near the city, Belfast remained a small settlement of little importance during the Middle Ages. The ONeill clan had a presence in the area, in the 14th century, Cloinne Aodha Buidhe, descendants of Aodh Buidhe ONeill built Grey Castle at Castlereagh, now in the east of the city. Conn ONeill of the Clannaboy ONeills owned vast lands in the area and was the last inhabitant of Grey Castle, evidence of this period of Belfasts growth can still be seen in the oldest areas of the city, known as the Entries. Belfast blossomed as a commercial and industrial centre in the 18th and 19th centuries, industries thrived, including linen, rope-making, tobacco, heavy engineering and shipbuilding, and at the end of the 19th century, Belfast briefly overtook Dublin as the largest city in Ireland. The Harland and Wolff shipyards became one of the largest shipbuilders in the world, in 1886 the city suffered intense riots over the issue of home rule, which had divided the city. In 1920–22, Belfast became the capital of the new entity of Northern Ireland as the island of Ireland was partitioned, the accompanying conflict cost up to 500 lives in Belfast, the bloodiest sectarian strife in the city until the Troubles of the late 1960s onwards. Belfast was heavily bombed during World War II, in one raid, in 1941, German bombers killed around one thousand people and left tens of thousands homeless. Apart from London, this was the greatest loss of life in a raid during the Blitz. Belfast has been the capital of Northern Ireland since its establishment in 1921 following the Government of Ireland Act 1920 and it had been the scene of various episodes of sectarian conflict between its Catholic and Protestant populations. These opposing groups in conflict are now often termed republican and loyalist respectively. The most recent example of conflict was known as the Troubles – a civil conflict that raged from around 1969 to 1998

25.
10th (Irish) Division
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The 10th Division, was one of the first of Kitcheners New Army K1 Army Group divisions, authorized on 21 August 1914, after the outbreak of the Great War. It included battalions from the provinces of Ireland. It was led by Irish General Bryan Mahon and fought at Gallipoli, Salonika and it was the first of the Irish Divisions to take to the field and was the most travelled of the Irish formations. The division served as a formation of the United Kingdoms British Army during World War I, some battalions of the division were landed at Anzac and fought at Chunuk Bair. In September 1915, when the Suvla front became a stalemate, the division moved to Egypt in September 1917 where it joined General Chetwodes XX Corps. It fought in the Third Battle of Gaza which succeeded in breaking the resistance of the Turkish defenders in southern Palestine and this left only one British battalion per brigade. The remainder of the division remained in Palestine until the end of the war with Turkey on 31 October 1918, on 12 November 1918 the Division concentrated at Sarafand, ready for moving back to Egypt. By 1 December it had returned to Cairo, sinai and Palestine Campaign Third Battle of Gaza. Island of Ireland Peace Park Messines, Belgium, Thomas P. Dooley, Irishmen or English Soldiers. The Times of a Southern Catholic Irish Man, Liverpool Press, myles Dungan, They Shall not Grow Old, Irish Soldiers in the Great War, Four Courts Press, ISBN 1-85182-347-6. Keith Jeffery, Ireland and the Great War, Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge, terence Denman, Irelands unknown Soldiers, The 16th Division in the Great War, Irish Academic Press, ISBN 0-7165-2495-3. Desmond & Jean Bowen, Heroic Option, The Irish in the British Army, Pen & Sword Books, steven Moore, The Irish on the Somme, ISBN 0-9549715-1-5. ISBN 978-1-84682-080-9 Stephen Walker, Forgotten Soldiers, The Irishmen shot at dawn Gill & Macmillan and our War Ireland and the Great War, The Thomas Davis Lectures, The Royal Irish Academy, Dublin ISBN 978-1-904890-50-8 Baker, Chris. A website with information relating to the Royal Dublin Fusiliers who had battalions which were a part of the 10th Division

26.
Fermoy
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Fermoy is a town on the River Blackwater in east County Cork, Ireland. As of the 2011 census, the town and environs had a population of approximately 6,500 people and it is located in the barony of Fermoy. The towns name comes from the Irish and refers to a Cistercian abbey founded in the 13th century, the ringfort at Carntierna, located 2.4 km south of Fermoy, was an important Iron Age site. A Cistercian abbey was founded in Fermoy in the 13th century, at the dissolution of the monasteries during the Tudor period, the abbey and its lands passed through the following dynasties, Sir Richard Grenville, Robert Boyle and William Forward. However, the site could hardly have been regarded as a town and, by the late 18th century, was more than a few cabins. In 1791, the lands around Fermoy were bought by a Scotsman and he was an entrepreneur who developed the roads and started the mail coach system in Ireland. He designed the town and the streets remain much the same as they were originally built, in 1984, some of his descendants, living in Australia, named a winery, Fermoy Estate, after the town he established. A plaque and bust in his honour were unveiled by the park in 2001. Fermoy was the site of a large British Army barracks, when Ireland was under British rule, in 1797, when the army was looking to establish a new and permanent base, Anderson gave them the land as an inducement to locate in Fermoy. Anderson and the town received economic benefit from the arrangement, in 1806 the first permanent barracks, the East Barracks, were built. They were located on 16½ acres of land, and provided accommodation for 112 officers and 1478 men of infantry, and 24 officers,120 men, a general 130-bed military hospital was also built. In 1809, the West Barracks was built and this also had a 42-bed hospital. When both barracks were complete, there was accommodation for 14 field officers,169 officers,2,816 men, by the 1830s, this was the largest military establishment on the island of Ireland. The town of Fermoy expanded around these facilities and retained its British military facilities until 1922, during the War of Independence, Fermoy was the scene of the first attack for arms by the IRA against British troops, during which a Private Jones was killed. This resulted in reprisals, including when British troops looted and burned part of the town centre. One of those who led the raid, IRA Commandant Michael Fitzgerald, was subsequently captured and he later became the first IRA man to die on hunger strike during the War of Independence. Fermoy is situated on the river Blackwater and has steep hills corresponding to the river valley, the downtown area of Fermoy is located in a flood plain and has flooded relatively often in the late 20th and early 21st century. Industries in and around the town include chemical production, ice-cream manufacturing, the towns industries also include electronics manufacturing and assembly by Sanmina-SCI Corporation, formerly Space Craft Incorporated

27.
Buttevant
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Buttevant is a medieval market town, incorporated by charter of Edward III, situated in North County Cork, Ireland. Here they built their stronghold in North Cork. Buttevant is located on the N20 road between Limerick and Cork and the R522 regional road, rotulus Pipae Cloynensis makes ten references to Bothon in its Latin text. The Lateran Registers record the name tempore Pope Innocent VIII as Bottoniam and Buttumam, and tempore Pope Alexander VI in various forms, as Bothaniam, Betomam, and Buttomam. Philip OSullivan Beare in his Historiae Catholicae Iberniae, published in Spain in 1620, gives the name Killnamollacham for the town, the Irish denomination for Buttevant has reached such a degree of confusion as to make it almost unidentifiable. The oral tradition of the area consistently gives Cill na Mullach, or Church of the Hillocks, peadar Ua Laoghaire confirms the tradition in his Mo Scéal Féin. The name Buttevant is reportedly a corruption of the motto of the DeBarry family, on the Barry coat of arms the inscription is Butez en Avant - Strike/Kick/Push Forward—or, more colloquially, Bash your way forward. The town of Buttevant accumulated a series of grants over several centuries. Fairs and markets were held at Buttevant for cattle sheep and pigs on 23 January,30 April,27 May,27 August, cattle and sheep fairs were held on 27 March,14 October,17 December. Pig markets were held on 11 July, fairs falling on Saturdays were held on Mondays. Fridays were devoted to egg markets, Horse fairs were held on the Fourth Monday in October. Cahirmee Horse Fair, the only surviving fair, is held on 12 July, the development of the settlement followed a pattern frequently repeated in the Norman colonies of North Cork and Limerick. The original nucleus of the town consisted of a keep situated on an elevation on the side of the town. Opposite the keep, on a site, was built the parish church, dedicated to St. Brigit. A mill, another element of Norman settlements, was located on the river. In addition, a hospice for lepers was established about a mile to the North East outside of the town wall and this basic structure was repeated in nearby Castletownroche, where it is still clearly to be seen, in Glanworth, Mallow, and in Kilmallock and Adare. A further feature of Norman settlements in North Cork was their concomitant religious foundations, early colonial sites, such as Buttevant and Castletownroche, saw the introduction of the more traditional monastic communities which were housed in foundations outside of the town walls. The Augustinian priories of Bridgetown and Ballybeg being respectively founded by the Roches, the burgage of Buttevant developed to the north of the keep and eventually increased in size to about 50 acres enclosed by walls for which Murage grants had been made by the crown in 1317

28.
Aldershot
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Aldershot is a town in the English county of Hampshire, located on heathland about 37 mi southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council, the town has a population of 36,321, while the Farnborough/Aldershot Built-up Area, a loose conurbation has a population of 243,344, making it the thirtieth-largest urban area in the UK. Aldershot is known as the Home of the British Army, a connection led to its rapid growth from a small village to a Victorian town. Aldershot is twinned with Sulechów in Poland, Meudon in France, the name may have derived from alder trees found in the area. Aldershot was included as part of the Hundred of Crondall referred to in the Domesday Book of 1086, john Nordens map of Hampshire, published in the 1607 edition of William Camdens Britannia, indicates that Aldershot was a market town. Prior to 1850, Aldershott was little known, the area was a vast stretch of common land, a lonely wasteland unsuitable for most forms of agriculture with scant population. In the 18th century, the stretch of the London to Winchester turnpike that passed through Aldershot between Bagshot and Farnham was the scene of highway robberies, at one time it had almost as bad a reputation as Hounslow Heath. Dick Turpin is said to have operated in the area having his headquarters nearby in Farnborough, in 1854, at the time of the Crimean War, Aldershot Garrison was established as the first permanent training camp for the British Army. This led to an expansion of Aldershots population going from 875 in 1851. Mrs Louisa Daniell arrived in the town at this time and set up her Soldiers Home and Institute to cater for the needs of the soldiers. The Aldershot riot of July 1945 caused considerable damage to the centre when disgruntled Canadian troops rioted in the streets for two evenings. A substantial rebuilding of the barracks was carried out between 1961 and 1969, by the architecture and engineering firm Building Design Partnership, the work was sped up under government pressure, and various new building technologies were employed with mixed success. In 1974 Aldershot and Farnborough urban districts were merged to form the Borough of Rushmoor under the provisions of the Local Government Act 1972. After a 2009 campaign, the British Government allowed veteran Gurkha soldiers who had served for more four years. As many Gurkha soldiers had been based in and around Aldershot, between the 2001 Census and the 2011 Census, Rushmoors Nepalese population increased to approximately 6,000 people, making up 6. 5% of the overall population. Howarth was later criticised for suggesting that Nepalese migrants should be dispersed across the UK, the Aldershot Military Tattoo was an annual event dating back to 1894. In the 1920s and 30s, the Aldershot Command Searchlight Tattoo held at the Rushmoor Arena presented displays from all branches of the services, at one time the performances attracted crowds of up to 500,000 people. The Tattoo was organised to raise money for military charities, by the end of the 1930s the event was raising around £40,000 annually

29.
Hampshire
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Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, the capital city of England. The larger South Hampshire metropolitan area has a population of 1,547,000, Hampshire is notable for housing the birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force. It is bordered by Dorset to the west, Wiltshire to the north-west, Berkshire to the north, Surrey to the north-east, the southern boundary is the coastline of the English Channel and the Solent, facing the Isle of Wight. At its greatest size in 1890, Hampshire was the fifth largest county in England and it now has an overall area of 3,700 square kilometres, and measures about 86 kilometres east–west and 76 kilometres north–south. Hampshires tourist attractions include many seaside resorts and two parks, the New Forest and the South Downs. Hampshire has a maritime history and two of Europes largest ports, Portsmouth and Southampton, lie on its coast. The county is famed as home of writers Jane Austen and Charles Dickens, Hampshire takes its name from the settlement that is now the city of Southampton. Southampton was known in Old English as Hamtun, roughly meaning village-town, the old name was recorded in the Domesday book as Hantescire, and it is from this spelling that the modern abbreviation Hants derives. From 1889 until 1959, the county was named the County of Southampton and has also been known as Southamptonshire. The region is believed to have continuously occupied since the end of the last Ice Age about 12,000 BCE. At this time Britain was still attached to the European continent and was covered with deciduous woodland. The first inhabitants came overland from Europe, these were anatomically and behaviourally modern humans, notable sites from this period include Bouldnor Cliff. Agriculture had arrived in southern Britain by 4000 BCE, and with it a neolithic culture, some deforestation took place at that time, although it was during the Bronze Age, beginning in 2200 BCE, that this became more widespread and systematic. Hampshire has few monuments to show from early periods, although nearby Stonehenge was built in several phases at some time between 3100 BCE and 2200 BCE. It is maintained that by this period the people of Britain predominantly spoke a Celtic language, hillforts largely declined in importance in the second half of the second century BCE, with many being abandoned. Julius Caesar invaded southeastern England briefly in 55 and again in 54 BCE, notable sites from this period include Hengistbury Head, which was a major port. There is a Museum of the Iron Age in Andover, the Romans invaded Britain again in 43 CE, and Hampshire was incorporated into the Roman province of Britannia very quickly

30.
Field marshal (United Kingdom)
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Field marshal has been the highest rank in the British Army since 1736. A five-star rank with NATO code OF-10, it is equivalent to an admiral of the fleet in the Royal Navy or a marshal of the Royal Air Force in the Royal Air Force. A field marshals insignia consists of two crossed batons surrounded by yellow leaves below St Edwards Crown. As with marshals of the RAF and admirals of the fleet in their services, field marshals remain officers of the British Army for life. The rank has been used throughout its history and was vacant through parts of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. After the Second World War, it became practice to appoint the Chief of the Imperial General Staff to the rank on his last day in the post. Army officers occupying the post of Chief of the Defence Staff, in total,141 men have held the rank of field marshal. The majority led careers in the British Army or the British Indian Army, some members of the British Royal Family—most recently Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, and Charles, Prince of Wales—were promoted to the rank after shorter periods of service. Other ceremonial appointments were made as diplomatic gestures, twelve foreign monarchs held the honour, though three were stripped of it when their countries became enemies of Britain and her allies in the two world wars. Also awarded the rank were two distinguished foreign military officers, honoured for their contributions to World War I and World War II respectively, and one foreign statesman. A report commissioned by the Ministry of Defence in 1995 made a number of recommendations for financial savings in the forces budget. The recommendation was not taken up in full, but the convention of promoting service chiefs to five-star ranks was stopped, Sir Peter Inge was, in 1994, the last active officer to be promoted to the rank. Inge relinquished the post of Chief of the Defence Staff in 1997 and his successor, at the same time, Guthrie, who relinquished the post of CDS and retired from active service in 2001, was promoted to honorary field marshal. In June 2014 former Chief of the Defence Staff Lord Walker of Aldringham was also promoted to field marshal. The rank insignia of a marshal in the British Army comprises two crossed batons in a wreath of oak leaves, with a crown above. On appointment, British field marshals are awarded a gold-tipped baton which they may carry on formal occasions, the vast majority of officers to hold the rank of field marshal were professional soldiers in the British Army, though eleven served as officers in the British Indian Army. At least fifty-seven field marshals were wounded in battle earlier in their careers, of whom 24 were wounded more than once, and eight had been prisoners of war. Fifteen future field marshals were present at the Battle of Vitoria, where the Duke of Wellington earned the rank, and ten others served under Wellington at the Battle of Waterloo

31.
John French, 1st Earl of Ypres
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Born in Kent to an Anglo-Irish family, he saw brief service as a midshipman in the Royal Navy, before becoming a cavalry officer. He achieved rapid promotion and distinguished himself on the Gordon Relief Expedition, French had a considerable reputation as a womaniser throughout his life and his career nearly ended when he was cited in the divorce of a brother officer whilst in India in the early 1890s. French became a hero during the Second Boer War. He won the Battle of Elandslaagte near Ladysmith, escaping under fire on the last train as the siege began and he then commanded the Cavalry Division, winning the Battle of Klip Drift during a march to relieve Kimberley. He later conducted Counter-insurgency operations in Cape Colony, during the Edwardian Period he commanded I Corps at Aldershot, then served as Inspector-General of the Army, before becoming Chief of the Imperial General Staff in 1912. During the Curragh incident he had to resign as CIGS after promising Hubert Gough in writing that the Army would not be used to coerce Ulster Protestants into a Home Rule Ireland. French’s most important role was as Commander-in-Chief of the British Expeditionary Force for the first year and he suffered an immediate personality clash with the French General Lanrezac. By summer 1915 French’s tenure of command was being criticised in London by Kitchener and other members of the government, and by Haig, Robertson. Haig, formerly his trusted subordinate and who had saved him from bankruptcy by lending him a sum of money in 1899. French was then appointed Commander-in-Chief, Home Forces for 1916–18 and this period saw the country running increasingly short of manpower for the Army. Frenchs family was related to the French/De Freyne family which had gone to Wexford in the century and had substantial estates at Frenchpark. French always regarded himself as Irish, although his branch of the family had lived in England since the eighteenth century. He was born the son of Commander John Tracey William French, RN, of Ripple Vale in Kent and his mother was Margaret Eccles from Glasgow. He was educated at a Harrow preparatory school and Eastmans Royal Naval Academy at Portsmouth before joining the Royal Navy in 1866 and he joined the Royal Navy because it gave him a chance to leave home four or five years earlier than the Army. From August 1866 he trained on board the three-decker battleship HMS Britannia at Dartmouth, in 1869, he served as a midshipman on HMS Warrior, commanded by Captain Boys, an old friend of Frenchs father. He resigned from the Royal Navy in November 1870, as he was discovered to be acrophobic, French joined the Suffolk Artillery Militia in November 1870, where he was expected to put in about two months a year with the regiment. He initially failed his exams for a commission, and had to hire a new tutor. He was posted to Aldershot Command, which contained a division under Sir Hope Grant

32.
Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig
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Field Marshal Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig, KT, GCB, OM, GCVO, KCIE, ADC was a senior officer of the British Army. During the First World War he commanded the British Expeditionary Force on the Western Front from late 1915 until the end of the war and he was nicknamed Butcher Haig for the two million British casualties endured under his command. The Canadian War Museum comments, His epic but costly offensives at the Somme and Passchendaele have become synonymous with the carnage. Haig was born in a house on Charlotte Square, Edinburgh but technically it was addressed as 19 Hope Street and he was not an aristocrat by birth, or landed gentry. His father John Haig—an irascible alcoholic—was middle class, and as head of the familys successful Haig & Haig whisky distillery had an income of £10,000 per year and his mother was from a gentry family fallen on straitened circumstances. Rachels cousin, Violet Veitch, was mother of the playwright, Haigs education began in 1869 as a boarder at Mr Batesons School in Clifton Bank, St Andrews. Later in 1869, he switched to Edinburgh Collegiate School, and then in 1871 to Orwell House, both of Haigs parents died by the time he was eighteen. After a tour of the United States with his brother, Haig attended university, studying Political Economy, Ancient History and French Literature at Brasenose College, Oxford and he devoted much of his time to socialising – he was a member of the Bullingdon Club – and equestrian sports. He was one of the best young horsemen at Oxford and quickly found his way into the University polo team and he was commissioned as a lieutenant into the 7th Hussars on 7 February 1885. Haig played polo for England on a tour of the United States and he would remain a polo enthusiast all his life, serving as Chairman of the Hurlingham Polo Committee from its reorganization in May 1914 until 1922. He would also be President of the Army Polo Committee and founder of the Indian Polo Association and he then saw overseas service in India, where he was appointed the regiments adjutant in 1888. He was something of a disciplinarian, but also impressed his superiors by his skill at sorting out paperwork and he was promoted to captain on 23 January 1891. Haig left India in November 1892 to prepare for the exam for the Staff College, Camberley. Although he was placed in the top 28 candidates he was not awarded a place as he had failed the compulsory mathematics paper. He concealed this failure for the rest of his life and later recommended dropping the mathematics paper as a requirement. Haigs colour blindness would not have been an issue if he had passed the mathematics paper. Fraser was one of those who had lobbied for Haig to enter the Staff College, and he was nominated in late 1894. While waiting to take up his place, he travelled to Germany to report on cavalry manoeuvres there, the careers of French and Haig were to be entwined for the next twenty-five years, and Haig helped French write the cavalry drillbook, published 1896

33.
Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom)
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Please see lieutenant general for other countries which use this rank Lieutenant general, formerly more commonly lieutenant-general, is a senior rank in the British Army and the Royal Marines. It is the equivalent of a multinational three-star rank, some British lieutenant generals sometimes wear three-star insignia, in addition to their standard insignia, Lieutenant general is a superior rank to major general, but subordinate to a general. The rank has a NATO rank code of OF-8, equivalent to a vice-admiral in the Royal Navy and an air marshal in the Royal Air Force, the rank insignia for both the Army and the Royal Marines is a crown over a crossed sabre and baton. Since the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, the St Edwards Crown, prior to 1953, the Tudor Crown, commonly known as the Kings Crown was used. Ordinarily, lieutenant general is the held by the officer in command of an entire battlefield corps. The General Officer Commanding NATOs Allied Rapid Reaction Corps is a British lieutenant general, historically, I Corps and II Corps were commanded by British lieutenant generals. Additionally, three lieutenant general appointments also exist within the extant British Armys Headquarters and they are the Commander Field Army, the Commander Home Command and the Chief of Materiel in Defence Equipment and Support. Examples include Lieutenant-General Sir Robert Fry, Lieutenant-General Sir James Dutton, from 1 April 1918 to 31 July 1919, the Royal Air Force maintained the rank of lieutenant general. It was superseded by the rank of air marshal on the following day, although Sir David Henderson was an RAF lieutenant general, the then RAF Chief-of-Staff, Sir Hugh Trenchard never held this rank. Additionally, the retired Royal Navy admiral, John de Mestre Hutchison, the RAF lieutenant general rank insignia was similar to the naval rank insignia for a vice-admiral, with a broad band of gold being worn on the cuff with two narrower bands above it. Unlike the naval insignia the RAF lieutenant general insignia did not have an executive curl

34.
Sir Henry Wilson, 1st Baronet
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Field Marshal Sir Henry Hughes Wilson, 1st Baronet, GCB, DSO was one of the most senior British Army staff officers of the First World War and was briefly an Irish unionist politician. Later in 1917 he was military advisor to the British Prime Minister David Lloyd George. In 1918 Wilson served as Chief of the Imperial General Staff and he also played an important role in the Irish War of Independence. After retiring from the army, Wilson served briefly as a Member of Parliament and he was assassinated on his own doorstep by two IRA gunmen in 1922 whilst returning home from unveiling a war memorial at Liverpool Street station. The Wilson family claimed to have arrived in Carrickfergus, County Antrim, with William of Orange in 1690, but may well have lived in the area prior to that. There is no record of Land League activity on the estate, the Wilsons also owned Frascati, an eighteenth century house at Blackrock, near Dublin. Born at Currygrane, Henry Wilson was the second of James and he attended Marlborough public school between September 1877 and Easter 1880, before leaving for a crammer to prepare for the Army. One of Wilson’s younger brothers became a army officer and the other a land agent. Wilson spoke with an Irish accent and at times regarded himself as British, Irish or an Ulsterman, like many Anglo-Irish or Scots of his era, he often referred to Britain as England. Wilson was also a member of the Church of Ireland. Wilson was not an Orangeman, and did on occasion attend Roman Catholic services, the entrance examinations to both relied heavily on rote learning. Sir John Fortescue later claimed that this was because as a boy he needed “time for his brain to develop”. Like French and Spears, Wilson acquired his commission “by the back door” as it was then known, in December 1882 he joined the Longford Militia, which was also the 6th Battalion of the Rifle Brigade. He also trained with the 5th Munster Fusiliers and he was commissioned into the Royal Irish Regiment, but soon transferred into the more prestigious Rifle Brigade. Early in 1885 Wilson was posted with the 1st Battalion to India, the British troops were organised into mounted infantry, accompanied by “Goorkha police”. Wilson worked with Henry Rawlinson of the Kings Royal Rifle Corps, on 5 May 1887 he was wounded above the left eye. The wound did not heal and after six months in Calcutta he spent almost the whole of 1888 recuperating in Ireland until he was passed for regimental duty and his wound earned him the nicknames “Ugly Wilson” and “the ugliest man in the British Army”. Whilst in Ireland Wilson began courting Cecil Mary Wray, who was two years his senior, on 26 December 1849 two kegs of explosive were set off outside the house, after which the family only ever spent one more winter there

35.
Sir Charles Monro, 1st Baronet
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From 1923 to 1929 he served as Governor of Gibraltar. Educated at Sherborne School and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst and he was promoted to lieutenant on 15 May 1881 and to captain on 24 July 1889. Promoted to major on 23 February 1898, he served as a major until he was appointed a deputy assistant adjutant general on 15 April 1899. He vacated that appointment in February 1900, as he went to South Africa to serve in the Second Boer War, promoted to temporary lieutenant-colonel in 1900, he was brevetted to lieutenant-colonel on 29 November 1900. On 28 March 1903, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel. Promoted to colonel in 1906, he was appointed Commander of 13th Infantry Brigade in Dublin on 12 May 1907, promoted to major-general on 31 October 1910, on 31 March 1912 he became General Officer Commanding 2nd London Division. On 5 August 1914, at the start of the First World War, Monro was deployed to France as General Officer Commanding 2nd Division, on 27 December 1914 he became General Officer Commanding I Corps, with the temporary rank of lieutenant-general. On 15 July 1915, he was made General Officer Commanding Third Army and he was promoted to the permanent rank of lieutenant-general on 28 October. In October 1915, during the stages of the Gallipoli Campaign, General Ian Hamilton was dismissed as Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force. Monro subsequently ordered the evacuation of troops from Gallipoli, in 1916 Monro briefly commanded the British First Army in France before becoming Commander-in-Chief India later that year. As Commander-in-Chief, India Monro had responsibility for the Mesopotamian campaign, robertson told him to “keep up a good show” in Mesopotamia but not to make any further attempt to take Baghdad, but this was overruled by Curzon and Chamberlain on the War Committee. Monro inspected Maude’s forces on his way out to India, on 1 October 1916, Monro was promoted to the substantive rank of general as a reward for his wartime service. In May 1921, Monro was created a Baronet, of Bearcrofts in the Shire of Stirling, in 1923 Monro was appointed Governor of Gibraltar. Monro died in 1929 and is buried in Brompton Cemetery, London and his baronetcy became extinct upon his death

36.
Pickelhaube
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The Pickelhaube, also Pickelhelm, was a spiked helmet worn in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries by German military, firefighters, and police. Although typically associated with the Prussian army who adopted it in 1842-43, the Pickelhaube was originally designed in 1842 by King Frederick William IV of Prussia, perhaps as a copy of similar helmets that were adopted at the same time by the Russian military. It is not clear whether this was a case of imitation, parallel invention, the early Russian type was also used by cavalry, which had used the spike as a holder for a horsehair plume in full dress, a practice also followed with some Prussian models. Frederick William IV introduced the Pickelhaube for use by the majority of Prussian infantry on October 23,1842 by a cabinet order. The use of the Pickelhaube spread rapidly to other German principalities, oldenburg adopted it by 1849, Baden by 1870, and in 1887, the Kingdom of Bavaria was the last German state to adopt the Pickelhaube. Amongst other European armies, that of Sweden adopted the Prussian version of the helmet in 1845. From the second half of the 19th century onwards, the armies of a number of nations besides Russia adopted the Pickelhaube or something very similar and these sported the Imperial German eagles but in the 1900s the eagles were replaced by the national emblems. The Russian version initially had a horsehair plume fitted to the end of the spike, the Russian spike was topped with a grenade motif. At the beginning of the Crimean War, such helmets were common among infantry and grenadiers, after 1862 the spiked helmet ceased to be generally worn by the Russian Army, although it was retained until 1914 by the Cuirassier regiments of the Imperial Guard and the Gendarmerie. The Russians prolonged the history of the pointed military headgear with their own cloth Budenovka in the early 20th century, the Pickelhaube also influenced the design of the British army Home Service helmet, as well as the custodian helmet still worn by police in England and Wales. Both the United States Army and Marine Corps wore helmets of the British pattern for full dress between 1881 and 1902, the basic Pickelhaube was made of hardened leather, given a glossy-black finish, and reinforced with metal trim that included a metal spike at the crown. Early versions had a crown, but the height gradually was reduced. In 1867 a further attempt at weight reduction by removing the binding of the front peak. Some versions of the Pickelhaube worn by German artillery units employed a ball-shaped finial rather than the pointed spike and this was achieved by unscrewing the spike and replacing it with a tall metal plume-holder known as a trichter. For musicians of these units, and also for Bavarian Artillery and a cavalry regiment of the Saxon Guard. Aside from the finial, perhaps the most recognizable feature of the Pickelhaube was the ornamental front plate. The most common plate design consisted of a large, spread-winged eagle, different plate designs were used by Bavaria, Württemberg, Baden, and the other German states. The Russians used the traditional double-headed eagle, German military Pickelhauben also mounted two round, colored cockades behind the chinstraps attached to the sides of the helmet

37.
Cap badge
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A cap badge, also known as head badge or hat badge, is a badge worn on uniform headgear and distinguishes the wearers nationality and/or organisation. Cap badges are a form of heraldry and their design generally incorporates highly symbolic devices. In the British Army each regiment and corps has its own cap badge and that of the Grenadier Guards is known as The Grenade Fired Proper The concept of regimental badges appears to have originated with the British Army. Plastic cap badges were introduced during the Second World War, when metals became strategic materials. Nowadays many cap badges in the British Army are made of a material called stay-brite, regimental cap badges are usually cast as one single piece but in a number of cases they may be cast in different pieces. The Royal Corps Of Signals also have a two part badge, the top being a brass crown and the bottom consisting of a silver flying body of Mercury above a brass world and the motto Certa Cito. A regiment or battalion may maintain variations of the cap badge for different ranks. These variations are usually in the material, size and stylization. Variations in cap badges are made for, Officers, usually three-dimensional in design with more expensive materials such as silver, enamel. Most officers beret badges are embroidered rather than metal or stay-brite, there are exceptions such as the Welsh Guards, where all ranks wear a cloth cap badge. Officers wearing an elaborate version to that of soldiers, made using gold thread and has a more three-dimensional design. All ranks of the Special Air Service wear an embroidered capbadge and all ranks of The Rifles, some regiments maintain a blackened or subdued version of their cap badges as shiny brass cap badges may attract the enemys attention on the battlefield. However, since the practice of British soldiers operating in theatre with regimental headdress has all but died out, the back badge is unique in the British Army and was awarded to the 28th Regiment of Foot for their actions at the Battle of Alexandria in 1801. Additional items that reflect a regiments historical accomplishments, such as backing cloth and hackles, in Scottish regiments, for instance, it is a tradition for soldiers to wear their cap badges on a small square piece of their regimental tartans. Officer Cadets may wear a white backing behind their badges. For a period leading up to Remembrance Day artificial poppies are worn by people in the United Kingdom. When worn in uniform the plastic stem of the poppy is discarded, on forage caps the paper petals are fitted under the left hand chin strap button. In the Royal Marines, the cap badges of commissioned officers are split into two, the crown and lion atop, but separated from, the globe and laurels, the Canadian Forces utilize a variety of metal and cloth cap badges on their headdress

38.
Trench warfare
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The most famous use of trench warfare is the Western Front in World War I. It has become a byword for stalemate, attrition, sieges, Trench warfare occurred when a revolution in firepower was not matched by similar advances in mobility, resulting in a grueling form of warfare in which the defender held the advantage. On the Western Front in 1914–18, both sides constructed elaborate trench and dugout systems opposing each other along a front, protected from assault by barbed wire, mines, the area between opposing trench lines was fully exposed to artillery fire from both sides. Attacks, even if successful, often sustained severe casualties, with the development of armoured warfare, emphasis on trench warfare has declined, but still occurs where battle-lines become static. Field works are as old as armies, Roman legions, when in the presence of an enemy, entrenched camps nightly when on the move. In the early modern era they were used to block possible lines of advance and they played a pivotal role in manoeuvring that took place before the Battle of Blenheim. The lines were captured by the French in 1707 and demolished, the French built the 19-kilometre-long Lines of Weissenburg during the War of the Spanish Succession under the orders of the Duke of Villars in 1706. These were to remain in existence for just over 100 years and were last manned during Napoleons Hundred Days, the French built the Lines of Ne Plus Ultra during the winter of 1710–1711, which have been compared to the trenches of World War I. They ran from Arras to Cambrai and Valenciennes where they linked up with existing defensive lines fronted by the river Sambre and they were breached in the 1711 campaign season by the Duke of Marlborough through a magnificent piece of manoeuvring. During the Peninsular War, the British and Portuguese constructed the Lines of Torres Vedras in 1809 and 1810, nor were fortifications restricted to European powers. British casualty rates of up to 45 percent, such as at the Battle of Ohaeawai in 1845, proved contemporary firepower was insufficient to dislodge defenders from a trench system. Fundamentally, as the range and rate of fire of rifled small arms increased and this was only made more lethal by the introduction of rapid-firing artillery, exemplified by the French 75, and high explosive fragmentation rounds. The increases in firepower had outstripped the ability of infantry to cover the ground between firing lines, and the ability of armour to withstand fire and it would take a revolution in mobility to change that. Trench warfare is associated with the First World War of 1914–18. Both sides concentrated on breaking up attacks and on protecting their own troops by digging deep into the ground. Trench warfare was conducted on other fronts, including Italy. Trench warfare has become a symbol of the futility of war. To the French, the equivalent is the attrition of the Battle of Verdun in which the French Army suffered 380,000 casualties, Trench warfare is associated with mass slaughter in appalling conditions

39.
Easter Rising
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The Easter Rising, also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week, April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans to end British rule in Ireland and it was the most significant uprising in Ireland since the rebellion of 1798, and the first armed action of the Irish revolutionary period. Organised by a seven-man Military Council of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, the Rising began on Easter Monday,24 April 1916, the British Army brought in thousands of reinforcements as well as artillery and a gunboat. There was fierce fighting on the routes into the city centre. Elsewhere in Dublin, the fighting consisted of sniping and long-range gun battles. The main rebel positions were surrounded and bombarded with artillery. Germany had sent a shipment of arms to the rebels, Volunteer leader Eoin MacNeill had then issued a countermand in a bid to halt the Rising, which greatly reduced the number of rebels who mobilised. With much greater numbers and heavier weapons, the British Army suppressed the Rising, Pearse agreed to an unconditional surrender on Saturday 29 April, although sporadic fighting continued until Sunday, when word reached the other rebel positions. After the surrender the country remained under martial law, about 3,500 people were taken prisoner by the British, many of whom had played no part in the Rising, and 1,800 of them were sent to internment camps or prisons in Britain. Most of the leaders of the Rising were executed following courts-martial, the Rising brought physical force republicanism back to the forefront of Irish politics, which for nearly 50 years had been dominated by constitutional nationalism. It, and the British reaction to it, led to increased support for Irish independence. In December 1918, republicans, represented by the reconstituted Sinn Féin party and they did not take their seats, but instead convened the First Dáil and declared the independence of the Irish Republic, which led to the War of Independence. 485 people were killed in the Easter Rising, about 54% were civilians, 30% were British military and police, and 16% were Irish rebels. Many of the civilians were killed as a result of the British using artillery and heavy machine guns, others were caught in the crossfire in a crowded city. The shelling and the fires it caused left parts of inner city Dublin in ruins, from early on, many Irish nationalists opposed the union and the ensuing exploitation and impoverishment of the island, which led to a high level of depopulation. Opposition took various forms, constitutional, social and revolutionary, the Irish Home Rule movement sought to achieve self-government for Ireland, within the United Kingdom. In 1886, the Irish Parliamentary Party under Charles Stewart Parnell succeeded in having the First Home Rule Bill introduced in the British parliament, the Second Home Rule Bill of 1893 was passed by the House of Commons but rejected by the House of Lords. After the fall of Parnell, younger and more radical nationalists became disillusioned with parliamentary politics, the Gaelic Athletic Association, the Gaelic League and the cultural revival under W. B

40.
Somme (river)
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The Somme is a river in Picardy, northern France. The name Somme comes from a Celtic word meaning tranquility, the department Somme was named after this river. The river is 245 km long, from its source in the ground of the former Forest of Arrouaise at Fonsommes near Saint-Quentin, to the Bay of the Somme. It lies in the geological syncline which also forms the Solent and this gives it a fairly constant and gentle gradient where several fluvial terraces have been identified. The Invasion Fleet of William the Conqueror assembled in the Bay of the Somme at Saint-Valery-sur-Somme, the river featured in the 1346 withdrawal of Edward IIIs army, which forded the river at the battle of Blanchetaque during the campaign which culminated in the Battle of Crécy. Crossing the river also featured prominently in the campaign led to the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. The river is famous for the World War I Battle of the Somme from July to November 1916. Aisne, Saint-Quentin Somme, Ham, Péronne, Corbie, Amiens, Abbeville, Saint-Valery-sur-Somme, Le Crotoy The river is characterized by a gentle gradient. The valley is more or less steep-sided but its bottom is flat with fens and these characteristics of steady flow and flooded valley bottom arise from the rivers being fed by the ground water in the chalk basin in which it lies. At earlier, colder times, from the Günz to the Würm the river has cut down into the Cretaceous geology to a level below the water table. The valley bottom has now therefore, filled with water which and this picture, of the source of the Somme in 1986, shows it when the water table had fallen below the surface of the chalk in which the aquifer lies. Here, the flow of water had been sufficient to keep fen from forming and this satellite photograph shows the fenny valley crossing the chalk to the sea on the left. The sinuous length at the centre of the picture lies downstream from Péronne, one of the fens, the Marais de lÎle is a nature reserve in the town of St. Quentin. The traditional market gardens of Amiens, the Hortillonages are on this sort of land, once exploited for peat cutting, the fen is now used for fishing and shooting The construction of the Canal de la Somme began in 1770 and reached completion in 1843. It is 156 km long, beginning at St. Simon, from St. Simon to Froissy, the canal is alongside the river. Thence to the sea, the river is partly river and partly navigation, from Abbeville, it is diverted through the silted, former estuary, to Saint-Valery-sur-Somme, where the maritime canal, once called the canal du Duc dAngoulême enters the English Channel. The St Quentin Canal, famous for the 1918 battle, links the Somme to northern France and Belgium, the Canal du Nord also links the Somme to the Oise, at Noyon, thence to Paris. In 2001, the Somme valley was affected by high floods

41.
Hubert Gough
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General Sir Hubert de la Poer Gough GCB, GCMG, KCVO was a senior officer in the British Army in the First World War. A favourite of the British Commander-in-Chief, Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig, he experienced a rise through the ranks during the war. The name of Gough probably derives from the Welsh word coch, before leaving England Goughs ancestors were clerics and clerks in Wiltshire, and the family settled in Ireland in the early 17th century, not as planters but in clerical positions. By the nineteenth century they were an Anglo-Irish family of the landed gentry settled at Gurteen, County Waterford, Gough described himself as Irish by blood and upbringing. Gough was the eldest son of General Sir Charles J. S. Gough, VC, GCB, a nephew of General Sir Hugh H. Gough, VC, and a brother of Brigadier General Sir John Edmund Gough, VC. The Goughs are the family to have won the Victoria Cross. Goughs mother was brought up as a Roman Catholic, although her mother was a Protestant, Gough was born in London on 12 August 1870. Goughs mother returned to India when he was ten, leaving the boys at a boarding school, Gough attended Eton College, and according to his autobiography Soldiering On he was terrible at Latin. But he was good at such as football and rugby. After leaving Eton, Gough gained entrance to the Royal Military Academy and he was gazetted into the 16th Lancers as a second lieutenant on 5 March 1889. Many of his horses were provided for him by other officers, Gough was promoted to lieutenant on 23 July 1890, and his regiment sailed for Bombay in September 1890, travelling by train to Lucknow. During the winter of 1893–94 he briefly acted in command of a squadron while other officers were on leave and he was promoted captain on 22 December 1894 at the relatively early age of 24. He served with the Tirah Field Force 1897–98 and he was posted to the Northwest Frontier, initially to the garrison holding the entrance to the Khyber Pass at Jamrud. His patron Colonel Neville Chamberlain managed to obtain for him a posting as assistant commissariat officer in Major-General Alfred Gaselees brigade, Gough returned to England in June 1898, and sat the Staff College exam in August. He was hospitalised with malaria in the autumn, then married Margaret Louisa Nora Lewes on 22 December 1898 and he married at an unusually early age for a serving officer. Gough started at Staff College, Camberley on 9 January 1899, instead he was ordered on special service to South Africa on 25 October 1899, steaming from Southampton on 28 October and reaching Cape Town on 15 November. He was deployed to Natal, and was ordered by Colonel Ian Hamilton to act as instructor to one of the Rifle Associations. Gough then served as ADC to Lord Dundonald, who was commanding mounted troops in Natal, in January 1900 he was promoted to brigade intelligence officer, a role which required a great deal of scouting

42.
Fifth Army (United Kingdom)
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The Fifth Army was a field army of the British Army during World War I that formed part of the British Expeditionary Force on the Western Front between 1916 and 1918. The Fifth Army was created on 30 October 1916, by renaming the Reserve Army and it participated in the Battle of the Ancre, which became the final British effort in the Battle of the Somme. In 1917, the Fifth Army was involved in the Battle of Arras, the failure of the Fifth Army to withstand the German advance led to Goughs dismissal and the disbanding of the army

43.
36th (Ulster) Division
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The 36th Division was an infantry division of the British Army, part of Lord Kitcheners New Army, formed in September 1914. The division served on the Western Front as a formation of the British Army during the Great War, the divisions insignia was the Red Hand of Ulster. The Ulster Volunteers were a unionist militia founded in 1912 to block Home Rule for Ireland, in 1913 they organised themselves into the Ulster Volunteer Force to give armed resistance to the prospective Third Home Rule Act. With a rival Irish Volunteers being formed by nationalists in response, however, the outbreak of World War I intervened, the Act was put in abeyance until after what was expected to be a short war. The 36th Division was commanded by Major-General Oliver Nugent from 1915 to 1918, the 36th Division was one of the few divisions to make significant gains on the first day on the Somme. It attacked between the Ancre and Thiepval against a known as the Schwaben Redoubt. According to military historian Martin Middlebrook, The leading battalions had been ordered out from the wood just before 7. 30am, at zero hour the British barrage lifted. Up sprang the Ulstermen and, without forming up in the adopted by other divisions. By a combination of tactics and Ulster dash, the prize that eluded so many. During the Battle of the Somme the Ulster Division was the division of X Corps to have achieved its objectives on the opening day of the battle. This came at a price, with the division suffering in two days of fighting 5,500 officers and enlisted men killed, wounded or missing. War correspondent Philip Gibbs said of the Division, Their attack was one of the finest displays of courage in the world. Of nine Victoria Crosses given to British forces in the battle, Thiepval – Somme Thiepval, as a battle memorial, commemorates the 1916 Anglo-French offensive on the Somme. It pays tribute and respect for those who died where it stands and is the biggest British war memorial to the missing of The Western Front and it was built in the late 1920s to early 1930s. The 36th Ulster Divisions sector of the Somme lay astride the valley of the river Ancre. Their task was to cross the ridge and take the German second line near Grandcourt, in their path lay not only the German front line, but just beyond it, the intermediate line within which was the Schwaben Redoubt. To their left flank was the 29th Division, which included the Newfoundlanders, for them in less than half an hour it was all over,801 men went into action and on the unwounded name call next day, only 68 answered. To their right flank was the 32nd Division, including the Grimsby Chums, prior to the attack at 07,28 a large mine was exploded beneath the German line, the Chums would then attack at 07,30

44.
Francis Bourne
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Francis Alphonsus Bourne was an English prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Westminster from 1903 until his death, born in Clapham to an English Civil Servant father and an Irish mother, Francis Bourne entered St. Cuthbert College at Ushaw Moor, County Durham in 1867 and then St. Edmunds College in Ware in 1877. He joined the Order of Friars Preachers, more known as the Dominicans, in Woodchester. From 1880 to 1881 he attended St. Thomas Seminary in Hammersmith, and then went to study in France at Saint-Sulpice Seminary in Paris, while in Paris, he met the Italian saint Don Bosco, and considered joining Don Boscos Salesian Order. He was ordained to the priesthood on 11 June 1884, and then did work in Blackheath, Mortlake. Bourne was rector of the House of Studies at Henfield Place from 1889 to 1891, at time he began teaching at St. Johns Seminary in Wonersh. He was raised to the rank of Domestic Prelate of His Holiness by Pope Leo XIII in 1895, on 27 March 1896 Bourne was appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Southwark and Titular Bishop of Epiphania in Cilicia. He received his consecration on the following 1 May from Cardinal Herbert Vaughan, with Bishops John Baptist Butt and Thomas Whiteside. Bourne later succeeded Butt as Bishop of Southwark on 9 April 1897, as Archbishop of Westminster, he became the spiritual head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales. In defiance of the law banning Eucharistic processions, Bourne gave the benediction from the loggia of Westminster Cathedral in 1908. However, the Cardinal continued to warn Catholics to be cautious of the principles which sometimes affect parties. Rather conservative, Bourne was opposed to Modernism, but he was prudent in his handling of the Modernist crisis in England, the leading lay English Catholic intellectual at the time, Baron Friedrich von Hügel, was on the moderate wing of the Modernist movement. Knowing of von Hügels holiness and fundamental loyalty, Bourne told the Barons daughter Thekla, I have never got him into trouble, michael de la Bédoyère describes Bourne as a prelate whose wisdom and statesmanship have never been sufficiently acknowledged. He was not overly supportive of interfaith dialogue nor of ecumenism and he condemned granting greater freedom to divorce and use birth control. He also desired to see the United Kingdom adopt Roman Catholic faith as its official religion and he died from a years illness in his archiepiscopal residence in London, at age 73. Saint Monicas Church, Palmers Green Diocese of Westminster Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church Catholic-Hierarchy

The Battle of the Somme (French: Bataille de la Somme, German: Schlacht an der Somme), also known as the Somme …

British aerial photograph of German trenches north of Thiepval, 10 May 1916, with the German forward lines to the lower left. The crenellated appearance of the trenches is due to the presence of traverses.

A young German Sommekämpfer in 1916

British troops moving up to the attack during the Battle of Morval, 25 September 1916.

The Royal Dublin Fusiliers was an Irish infantry Regiment of the British Army created in 1881, one of eight Irish …

Royal Dublin Fusiliers Cap Badge

Royal Dublin Fusiliers during the Second Boer War, 1899-1902 (IWM Q72298)

Cardinal Francis Bourne, the Head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, and Major-General William Hickie, the Commander of the 16th Irish Division, inspecting troops of the 8/9th Battalion, Royal Dublin Fusiliers (48th Brigade, 16th Division) at Ervillers, 27 October 1917 (IWM Q6153)